Remix: The Next Year
by ChangeYourPrettyLife
Summary: New year, new challenges. Now that Beca is the leader of the Bellas she has to learn to deal with all the a capella boys and a capella girls, new and old. Throw in a new roomate with her own secrets and baggage and Beca's second year at Barden could be just as challenging as her first. Beca x Jesse. OC x OC. Maybe Amy x Bumper, Donald x Lily later on. First story, criticism welcome
1. I Wanna Be Yours Pretty Baby

The biggest decision I have ever made is the decision to leave and go to a university 1500 miles away from home. I didn't need to either. Stupid Ollie convincing me it would be good for me to get away from home and live on my own. Really, I mean he comes back from boarding school and suddenly thinks he knows what's best for me. I've only seen him half a dozen times since middle school. If Mom and Dad hadn't pushed for me to leave I wouldn't have left at all.

Anyways, here I am in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. At Barden University, 1500 miles away from Las Vegas and my family. I've only been here a day and all ready I miss the dry heat of the desert. This humidity is going to be the death of me.

"Hey! Dover!" Ollie's voice carries across campus as if he's using a mega horn or something. He comes jogging over to where I now stand beside my cab. None of my family was able to make the trip to see me off. Charlie and Clark started their high school classes this week and Mom couldn't fly, being 5 months pregnant and all. Dad didn't want to leave Mom alone with Charlie and Clark, so I came here alone. This was probably for the best. I would have bawled if they were here with me. Instead I got my crying done yesterday in the hotel.

"Ollie Clothesoff. Checked in already?" Ollie's blonde hair is falling in waves around his face, into his bright blue eyes. It's remarkable how much he looks like his father. The only difference between the two of them these days was Ollie's olive skin, which is completely different from Oliver's constantly pale skin. Ollie's full name is Oliver Clothesoff Junior but everybody has called him Ollie since Oliver brought him home. Ollie was adopted by Oliver as a newborn shortly after I was born and since our parents were best friends I've known Ollie almost my whole life. Until he went away for boarding school that is.

"Course, moved in yesterday. Roommate moves in today. What about you, Arden? Met your roommate yet?" Ollie says, brushing his hair back. He's been doing that ever since he got back, messing with his hair.

"Some girl named Beca I think. And I haven't met anyone yet Ollie, I just got out of the cab." I go back to the cab and pick out my luggage. Considering how many clothes I have back home I was very impressed that I only packed two suitcases. Ollie must have picked up on this.

"Only two suitcases of clothes? Shit Arden, did your sister help you pack?" Ollie teases as he grabs my suitcases with ease.

"Yes, in fact, Charlie did help. Now are we going to go throw this stuff in my room or die from the humidity?" I say, grabbing one of the cardboard boxes. Two suitcases and three cardboard boxes, not to bad for packing.

"Okay boss, where are we going?" Ollie says laughing.

"Building C, room 264."

* * *

"Here we are." Ollie says walking into my room. "Room 264." I follow him in and notice my roommate hasn't arrived yet. Guess I get to pick which bed I want. I go and throw my stuff down on the full bed. I am too tall to fit on the smaller futon bed on the other side of the room. Short of my roommate being an Amazon woman, I am sleeping on the bed.

"Thank you for the help Ollie. I knew there was a reason to keep you around." I joke turning to look at the boy. Well, man. I have to remind myself of that all the time. He isn't the boy I went to middle school with anymore.

"Oh? So that's why?" Ollie laughs and puts the suitcases down on my bed. "And here I thought it was my wit and charm that wooed you." Yeah, definitely not the boy I used to know.

"Nope, sorry to hurt your feelings." I say, smiling so he doesn't take it personally.

"My ego can take it. So are you going to come down to the quad? All the clubs are set up with booths." Ollie asks, walking over to the window to look out on the grounds.

"Huh?" I had already started to dig into one of the boxes, pulling out my picture of me and my siblings sitting in my brother's convertible. Clark, my little brother by one year and middle child, is sitting in the driver's seat while I'm in shot-gun. Clark looks like Dad except for his build. That he got from Grandfather, no one in our family is as tall or broad-shouldered as him. Broad shoulders are perfect for him since he is a quarterback. Depending on what sport site you go to they say Clark could go anywhere from first overall to tenth in the draft after he plays some college football. Charlie, my little sister is sitting in the back, leaning forward so her head is between Clark and I. Charlie is almost a carbon copy of Mom. They look identical except for Charlie's eyes; she has Dad's wide grey eyes. People tell me I look more like Dad but I'm proud of the fact that I have my Mom's dark brown almond-shaped eyes. Charlie is trying to follow in Mom's footsteps and become an actress like her. Mom won her first Emmy a year before I was born and finally won an Oscar last year. Dad, like everyone else in the family, has done well for himself as well. He is CEO of Dover Corp, the company he founded after college.

"Quad, clubs to join? Who knows you may end up joining a club that isn't full of valedictorians?" Ollie voice brings me out of my thoughts with a snap. I roll my eyes at him, but since I'm still placing the picture on my bedside table he doesn't see my reaction. Ollie has been teasing me for being valedictorian at my high school since he got back. I hear Ollie walk up and feel him give me a hug from behind. "I miss them too." He says softly.

I stiffen on instinct. Ollie and I haven't been this close since he left. Ollie doesn't seem to notice my discomfort. Slowly I convince myself to relax and turn around to return his hug. Ollie and I may not be as close as we once were but he is still the only living part of the desert I brought with me. Besides this less boisterous version of Ollie is more like the boy I used to know.

"Oh, hey. I can come back if this isn't a good time." A voice awkwardly says from behind us. The moment snaps immediately as I realize how this must look to my new roommate.

"No it's okay. You must be Beca?" I ask stepping away from Ollie. The woman who has just thrown her bag on the futon is short with dark brown hair. That's good, no obvious problems with sleeping arrangements then.

Beca's dressed more alternatively than I am. Then again my button up white blouse and jeans are as plain as the come. The darker clothes, ear spike and big headphones around her neck are polar opposites of how I look.

"Yeah, you're Arden?" She asks, offering a smile.

"Yeah." I say returning her smile.

"And I'm Ollie, but I need to be going. See you in the quad Arden?" Ollie says as he starts to the door.

"Yeah, see you there." I say, waving as he leaves. I turn back to my boxes and begin to unpack.

"Your boyfriend?" Beca asks from her side of the room.

"No, old friend from back home." I say.

"Cool. Where are you from?"

"Vegas."

"Damn, this is a different kind of heat then you're used to then?"

"I feel like I'm melting here." I say smiling. "Where are you from?"

"Home is a couple of hours away from here, but I spent my summer at an internship in LA."

"You're kidding? That's crazy, what was the internship?"

"Working at a record label. Mostly getting people's mail and coffee but at least I met some people while I was there. Did some good networking." Beca says. "What did you do this summer?"

* * *

Unpacking took almost an hour but I got to know Beca during the time. I learned that she is in her second year studying business and minoring in music. Her dad is a Prof here too. She also told me she is part of some a ccapella group on campus. She looked a little disappointed when I told her that I don't sing.

Now I am wandering around the quad looking at the booths. Beca and I came down together but she went to going join the rest of the Bellas, her a ccapella group. I can see them across the quad handing out flyers. With Beca is a bigger blonde woman, an Asian woman, a black woman and a tall brunette woman.

None of the booths seem that interesting so far. I was never really into clubs or sports back in Vegas so I'm kind of lost on what to join.

"Hey! Arden!" I don't have to turn to know Ollie has managed to find me. How I have no idea. It's packed out here with other new and returning students.

"Ollie, hey." I reach up and make a feeble attempt at fixing my dark brown hair which I've now put up in a messy bun. I'm finding keeping my hair up is a good way to combat the humidity.

"Finished unpacking then?" Ollie says walking in time beside me.

"Finished up ten minutes ago. Met your roommate yet?"

"Some guy named Donald. He seems cool; he's part of the Treblemakers." Ollie says, stopping to look at a flyer at a booth.

"What's a Treblemaker?" I ask, trying to looking interested in the Turbocharged Bobsled flyers.

"It's the male a ccapella group on campus. Sounds kind of cool." Of course Ollie would be interested in a singing group. He may not share any genes with his Oliver but he has his father's talent for singing. Oliver is the lead singer for the rock group The Three Affairs.

"Small world. Beca is part of the Bellas, the all female a ccapella group on campus."

"Are you going to join Beca in the Bellas?" Ollie says glancing at me with a bit of a smirk. Ollie had always been completive so I decide to nip this bud before it grows out of hand.

"I don't sing. Beca seemed a little disappointed when I told her." I say moving on to the Tag Team Bungee Jumping Club. "Okay, really? These clubs are ridiculous. I feel like we're on candid camera or something."

Ollie laughs and then glances around the quad conspiratorially. "Don't judge, this one sounds fun." He says giving the bungee jumping flyer a serious look.

"Oh yeah, if you're dunk it sound like a lot of fun."

"That's half the point of being in college Arden!" Ollie says laughing at my frown.

"Hey! Ollie!" Someone behind us calls to Ollie.

"Who's that?" I ask, looking at the group of men waving at Ollie.

"Donald. I'm guessing the rest of the Treblemakers are the guys with him." Ollie says, grabbing my hand. "Come on."

"Ollie!" A man says, walking forward to shake Ollie's hand. Ollie lets go of me and shakes his hand.

"Donald, this is Arden, my friend from home." Ollie says nodding at me.

"Pleasure to meet you." Donald says dramatically, bowing and kissing my hand. Donald seems cool, preppy looking with dark skin and glasses.

"All mine." I say putting as much of a joking tone in my voice as I can. Might as well play along with the guy. Ollie laughs but I swear I saw a frown on his face for a second.

_Oh boy_, I think.

"So, you gonna join the Treblemakers?" Another man says, walking up beside Donald. "I'm Jesse." He says offering Ollie and me his hand. Jesse dresses exactly like most of the guys on campus, with shorter brown hair and slightly preppy clothes. His face is softer than Ollie's sharp, angular features. Jesse seems more childish looking in a way standing next to Ollie. I can tell immediately Ollie is going to stand out in this university. Ollie dresses like a rocker with ripped jeans and Oliver's old leather jacket. How he can wear a leather jacket in this humidity is beyond me though.

"Maybe, haven't decided yet." Ollie says shaking Jesse's hand.

"How's your voice?" Jesse asks. Ollie gives them a cocky smile and walks over to the group of guys.

"May I?" He asks holding his hand out to one of the guys. The guy hands him his guitar and pick. Ollie outs the strap of the guitar over his shoulder and plays a few chords experimentally. Then he turns to Jesse, Donald and I and really starts playing. I smile as I recognize the famous six chords of George Thorogood's _Bad to the Bone._

"Now on the day I was born, the nurses all gathered around. And they gazed in wide wonder, at the joy they had found." Ollie sang. His voice was has this gravely, rocker edge that suited the song perfectly. The rest of the Treblemakers started to join in and make the noises for the rest of the instruments in the song.

"The head nurse spoke up, said "Leave this one alone," she could tell right away, that I was bad to the bone."

"Bad to the bone. Bad to the bone. B-B-B-B- Bad. B-B-B-B- Bad. B-B-B-B- Bad. Bad to the bone."

"I broke a thousand hearts, before I met you. I'll break a thousand more, baby, before I am through." Jesse sings as he joins in with Ollie now.

"I wanna be yours pretty baby, yours and yours alone. I'm here to tell you honey, that I'm bad to the bone." Both of them finished in harmony. I have to admit it was mesmerizing to hear them perform. People around them have starting cheering and clapping and I found myself joining in, giving Ollie a big smile as he turns to look at me.

"You're good, man. Auditions are in three weeks, you should come out." Jesse says to Ollie, shaking his hand again.

"What do we have to do?" Ollie asks.

"You have to put an arrangement together for a song." Donald says, coming forward again. "Damn brother, you're good!"

"What song?" Ollie says, smiling at Donald's comment.

"A song we will be choosing." Ollie and I turn and see Beca and the other women from the Bellas, who seemed to have noticed Ollie and Jesse's performance. Beca walks up to Jesse, the rest of the two clubs coming and standing behind their leaders. "Since we are the reining national champs." Beca continues.

"Yes, reining for now. Sorry Sweets, but we're gonna win this year."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." Beca says, smirking at Jesse.

"Money where you're mouth is Sweets?" Jesse asks grinning as he steps closer to Beca. He's so much taller that she is almost looking straight up at him.

"Hey, hey. Save it for the Riff Off." The brunette woman says, stepping up to stand beside Beca.

"Why? Scared Stacie?" Jesse says, not looking away from Beca.

"Yeaaah, as entertaining as your foreplay is, save it for the Riff Off." The bigger blonde woman says.

"Come on Fat Amy? What's a little sing off between friends?" Donald says.

"Oh boys, we pitch slapped you to harmony heaven at Nationals. Do you really wanna do that to yourselves again?" Fat Amy says. The other women behind her ooh dramatically.

"We'll see you at the Riff Off." Beca says, still not looking away from Jesse. "Come on girls." Beca looks away from Jesse and sees me now. She arches her eyebrows and I take that as a command to follow them.

"See you around Ollie." I say, chuckling as I turn to follow the Bellas.

"Awe, Arden you're a Bella too?" I hear Donald ask as I walk away. I raise my hand in a wave and don't look back.

"What's with you and Jesse?" I ask catching up with Beca.

"Oh he's her boy toy." Stacie says walking beside me.

"Yah, they are acca-royalty." Amy adds.

"Acca-royalty?" I ask, trying not to shake my head at the odd word combination.

"We are not acca-royalty." Beca says, rolling her eyes at her friends. Stacie waves her hand in a dismissing way, as if they have all had this conversation before.

"I'm Stacie by the way." She says turning to look at me.

"I'm Fat Amy." Amy says, taking the cue from Stacie. I decide not to question that title.

"Cynthia Rose." The black woman says. I turn and look at the Asian woman but only see her mumbling something.

"Didn't catch that?" I say looking at her.

"My name is Lily." She says very quietly. "I have a dead bird skeleton in my room." She adds quickly. I blink three times, did I hear that right? Fat Amy is frowning at Lily so I assume she did say that part out loud.

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Arden, Beca's roommate."

"So do you sing Arden?" Stacie asks.

"No sorry." The rest of the Bellas don't hide their disappointment as well as Beca.


	2. St-St-Stop Talking That

A/N: Thank you for all the comments. I will try and update once a week but no promises.

I'll be switching between Beca and Arden for the most part. While Arden and Ollie do have a large part of the story, Beca will be getting her fair share fo drama.

All comments are welcome. Only my first story so crititcism is more than welcome.

Disclaimer (For last chapter too): I do not own Pitch Perfect. Or any of the songs that appear in this story.

* * *

Arden POV

The first two weeks of class went by both quickly and slowly. My five classes and two labs kept me more than busy but the nights were hard. I couldn't stop thinking about my family and all the things I must be missing. Charlie and I are texting everyday and even Clark sent me videos of him and Lucy, our cocker spaniel. Mom and Dad would call me once a week to update me on everything going on, but it's still hard.

Ollie has gotten into the habit of stopping by and making me come out and explore campus, which is good because it gives me something to do when Beca locks me out of the room so she and Jesse can watch "movies" together. I question how much of the movie they actually watch.

Ollie is adapting to being away from home much better than I am. Though going away to boarding school does that to a person I guess. I've got to know him better on our nightly explorations. He tells me stories of what he and his boys would do at boarding school to pass the nights. I'll admit I didn't think Ollie and I would get this close again but he is making a huge effort.

Beca also tries to get me out of the room. She invited me to go out with her and the Bellas last week but I always feel awkward around them. I'm not part of their club so I always feel like I don't belong.

"So they told me the song list I have to prepare for auditions." Ollie says bringing me back to the present. Currently we are in the large emptied out pool on campus. It's been closed down for years and looks like it's gone without maintenance for just as long. In some places the tiles have long lost their battle with ivy or have just rusted over in other places. Still I like this place; despite the neglect it still commands awe. I imagine it is like being in the ancient ruins around Rome.

"What are you singing for them?" I ask. We are sitting on the edge of the pool watching the stars. I will admit the stars are something this place has over Vegas. We can almost never see the stars there.

"We have a list of three songs. _I Like How It Feels_ by Enrique Iglesias, _Your Man_ by Down With Webster and _Look Around_ by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers." Ollie says. "Easy songs."

"Pretty confident there, Ollie." I say nudging his shoulder.

"Of course. Donald says it's really just a formality. After I rocked out to _Bad to the Bone_ with them the spot is mine to lose."

"So have you practiced at all?" I ask. Ollie chuckles and jumps off the edge. He stands in front of me and clears his throat.

"And if you want me girl I will be your man, and if you want me girl I will be here forever." Ollie sings, offering me his hand. I laugh, shaking my head as I take his hand. "And if you want me girl I will be your man, and if you want me girl I will be here forever."

"I'll take you all around as long as we're on solid ground, I'll introduce you to town and never will I let you down." He spins me around as he sings to me. Despite myself I dance with him. I know this is a bad idea but I allow myself to get caught up in the moment.

"One look from you and I think I must've gone to heaven now, the fact that I'm with Webster is hard enough to get my head around. She's as hard as AC/DC, she gets my thunder struck, she's a score, a four leaf clover but I won't press my luck. Girl I'm talking about you so don't be so scared of trust, I think I'm better off with you, you say compared to what?"

"And if you want me girl I will be your man, and if you want me girl I will be here forever." Ollie turns me to face to face him and I find myself staring right into his eyes. "And if you want me girl I will be your man, and if you want me girl I will be here forever."

"You're good." I say quietly. He refuses to look away from me. Instead he starts to lean closer, like he wants to kiss me. I react instantly and pull my hands out of his, stepping back.

"Thanks." Ollie says, his hand jumping to his hair. There this small hurt look in his eyes but it's gone in a flash. The moment is over and now it just feels awkward.

"I gotta go. Beca is probably wondering where I am." I make up. Beca knows I'm out with Ollie so she isn't exactly sitting up waiting or anything.

"Yeah, I'll walk you back." I don't argue with this. Ollie knows the campus best and when it's this dark I am liable to get lost or something. Ollie knows this and grins, "Wouldn't want you getting lost."

* * *

Beca's POV.

"So what happened with you and Ollie?" I ask from the other side of the room. Arden glances up from her anatomy text book and I raise my eyebrows at her. "Dude, he hasn't been around to see you in almost a week."

"Nothing." She says simply.

"Yeah, uh huh, bullshit." I say. "Come on, what happened? Did you guys hook up or something?"

"No, no. We just…"

"Just what?" I ask trying not to smile. What could have happened to these two that Arden can barely tell me?

"We almost kissed." I try not to laugh. The way she was trying to just spit it out I though it would have been something more dramatic.

"Why is that a big deal? Honestly, with the way you two act, half of campus probably assumes you're together." I can tell this is news to her as she frowns at my words.

"How do we act?"

"Flirting, glued to the hip basically. Whenever I've ever seen you around campus you guys are always together." Her frown increases. "Why is it is a big deal?" She sighs and closes her text book.

"We dated for a bit back in middle school until he left for boarding school. It was good but after he left we just stopped talking." Arden says with a shrug. "I guess I just don't want to go down that road again with him." I shake my head slightly as I turn to grab my jacket.

"Why? I've heard you say it yourself, he's not the boy you used to know." I start walking to the door. "Why not try again?" I watch Arden but she refuses to look me in the eye, instead staring at a spot just behind me.

"When I get back we are drinking cheap margaritas with Amy." That makes Arden smile. She always seems awkward with the girls when I bring her but she gets along well with Amy. Then again everybody gets along with Amy.

"Deal."

"I'll see you after auditions." I turn and leave the room. I feel bad about leaving Arden like this. I know there is something between her and Ollie she isn't telling me. I just wish she would tell me so I could help her.

_Pot calling the kettle black much_, I think. Last year I managed to push away Jesse and all of the Bellas before my Dad made me realize how much I cared about them. When it comes to Ollie, Arden seems almost as closed off as I was.

The walk to auditions is a short one, the theatre is only 5 minutes away from residence.

"Beca! Becaw!" Jesse calls after I'm outside of my building. I smile and slow down so he can catch up.

"Hey you." I say as he catches up with me.

"Hey yourself." He slings his arm around my shoulders. We walk the rest of the way, with Jesse telling me a story about a kid that was humiliated by his Prof when the kid fell asleep in class.

"So I was thinking we can watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off tonight?" He asks, holding open the door for me as we arrive at the theatre.

"Sorry, margaritas with Amy and Arden tonight."

"Margaritas?" Amy says coming up behind us. "I'm always down for a date with my man Jose Cuervo."

"I knew you would be." I say. I end the conversation as we are now in the theatre. The Bellas are awesome, but if they all knew we were drinking margaritas they would all want to come. And that would be counterproductive for my plan of getting Arden to open up.

"Belly roll, Justin." Tommy says from up on the stage. Amy and I hustle to get down to where the Bellas are waiting.

"Okay nerds. Lets try…" I take my seat with Amy in the stands with the rest of the Bellas. "_I Like How It Feels_, Enrique Iglesias." The girls all nod around me.

"Alright, your first contestant." Tommy says dramatically doing his bowing/wave gesture. Dude needs to turn it down a notch.

The contestants go by in blurs of "'Cause I like how it feels!" Most of them are decent but none of the girls are amazing. We have a couple spots to fill with Aubrey and Chloe graduating. I can't help feeling a little disappointed as the last contestant finishes his song. None of the girls we saw tonight are as good as the girls who left us.

"Well that wasn't so bad?" Jesse says coming over to where we are now packing up.

"No not to bad for you guys. Ollie was pretty good." I say.

"Yeah, though after his _Bad to the Bone _I can't say I surprised." Jesse replies. The theatre fills with noise as people being to pack up and discuss the contestants. I'm in the middle of putting my jacket back on when I hear him.

"Miss me boys and girls?" An arrogant voice calls out across the room.

_No, it can't be,_ I think.

I swing around to check. Bumper, complete with leather jacket and ridiculous sunglasses is standing by the door way. The room had been full of movement and noise before but now it was dead silent.

"What are you doing here Bumper?" Jesse asks. His jaw had tightened a bit which is odd to see. Jesse has always been a happy-go-lucky guy but after Bumper abandoned the Treblemakers, I can see why he isn't happy to see Bumper.

"I'm back to help you losers win nationals, since you can't seem to win without me." Bumper says, smug grin on his face.

"You left; you're not a Treblemaker anymore." Benji says nervously from over where the rest of the Treblemakers are.

"Oh please, this is the nerd you replaced me with?" Bumper says strutting over to the Treblemakers. Now Jesse looks like he wants to hit him. He walks over to stand in front of Bumper, blocking Benji from him.

"Get out Bumper." Jesse says through grit teeth.

"You're kidding right?" Bumper asks. "Come on guys, you need me."

"Is there a problem?" I see Ollie jump off the stage to join the stand off. This is getting out of hand. Last time Bumper got in a confrontation with someone there was a fight. I start to walk over but Cynthia Rose and Stacie grab my arms.

"You got arrested last time, remember?" Cynthia Rose says in my ear.

"Yeah, but I didn't." Amy says moving quickly over to where Bumper is. "I'm going destroy that Hollywood creampuff!"

"Amy! No!" I say. I try and grab her, but since Cynthia Rose and Stacie are still holding me, she gets away.

"Amy? Hey babe, miss me?" Bumper says nervously as his ex-friend with benefits storms over to him. At least I'm pretty sure they were hooking up last year. Amy's eyes narrow and she starts walking faster.

_Oh shit_.

Jesse and Benji notice and move to slow down Amy. Ollie walks over to stand in front of Bumper. He is now looking down on Bumper, looking quite intimidating. I hadn't realized how short Bumper was till now.

"Who are you?" Ollie asks.

"Who are you is the better question? Street Trash Ken?" Bumper says, glancing around hoping someone laughs at his joke at Ollie's ripped jeans and leather jacket.

"I'm Oliver Clothesoff Junior." Ollie says impressively. No one in the room is shocked by this statement. Rumours had got around on the first day about his father, but clearly this stuns Bumper. "Again is there a problem here?" Ollie asks as he takes off his leather jacket, showing a t-shirt that clearly defines his muscles. The silence that follows seems to take a couple minutes. Bumper must be deciding whether or not it would be a good idea to fight someone who is as muscular as Ollie and who has such a powerful father. Then he smirks.

"No, no problem." Bumper shoots Jesse and the rest of the Treblemakers a look. The room is silent as he walks out of the room.

"I don't think that's the last we've seen of Bumper." Cynthia Rose says beside me.

No, this definitely won't end well.

* * *

"I got one." Amy says handing out the next round of margaritas. We've gone through three rounds of drinks already. Amy, Arden and I are all sitting on my side of the dorm. Arden on the desk chair, Amy and I on the futon. "Never have I ever … been woken up by people being too loud during sex."

"I have, recently actually." Arden says taking a large drink.

"Dude!" I yell. Amy just laughs as Arden ducks the pillow that I throw at her.

"Hey! I'm not the one who fools around with her boyfriend while her roommate is in the room." Arden says.

"Benji was already asleep and I knew he would be more freaked out then you would." I say.

"So you couldn't be like normal people and go to the showers or something?" Arden says throwing the pillow back at me.

"No, we weren't really thinking." I mumble into my drink. Arden's aim is so bad at this point I don't even have to worry about the pillow. She seems to be a bit of a light weight when it comes to drinking.

"Okay ladies enough with the pillows." Amy says grabbing all of the pillows and putting them on her side of the futon. "Sooo Arden. What's the deal with you and your blonde arm candy?" Amy wiggles her eyebrows as she asks Arden.

"Nothing. Ollie and I are just friends." Arden says. She quickly takes a drink and refusing to look at me and Amy.

"Bullshit." I say, narrowing my eyes at her. "There is something you are not telling us." Arden stiffens slightly but doesn't respond to my accusation.

"Oooh is it really dramatic? Tragic? Those are the best stories." Amy says. Arden still isn't looking at either of us. Actually she doesn't seem to be looking at anything.

"Arden?" I snap my fingers in front of her face. "Earth to Arden?"

"Sorry, got distracted." Arden shakes her head slight and takes another drink.

"Where did you just go off to?" Amy asks.

"Just started thinking about home and my family." Arden says. Her eyes seem a little misty, as if she is close to crying.

"You must really miss them." I say. I know she does, I've caught her staring at the picture of her and her siblings more than once.

"This is the longest I've gone with out seeing them." Arden gives us a small, feeble attempt at a smile. Amy and I glance at each other. This is something neither of us is really good at, since both of us are only children.

"What are they like?" Amy asks. Arden gets up and retrieves the picture of her and her siblings.

"Charlie is like a younger copy of my mother. She's incredibly dramatic. I remember when Charlie was ten, we moved to our new house, and she got so upset. She kept giving anyone who would listen these long winded speeches about how no one would be able to find us if we moved, and how someone in her class told her the new house was haunted." Arden smiles slightly, shaking her head at the memory.

"And Clark. Clark is a rock. He has always been there for me and Charlie whenever we need him." Arden continues. "Charlie and I went to every one of Clark's games. And Clark and I would go to all of Charlie's plays and recitals."

"Sounds like you've got a good life there. Why'd you come here then?" Amy asks.

"Ollie came around trying to convince me to come here with him. I wasn't going to but then Mom and Dad found out and started pressuring me to go. So here I am." Arden answers. Now she really looks like she might cry. No one says anything for about ten minutes. Arden is busy reminiscing in her mind while Amy and I try and think of a good way to cheer her up.

"Be happy! Stop crying!" Amy starts to sing loudly to Arden. "It will be okay, you'll see your family soon!" Arden lets out a bark of laughter at Amy's impromptu song.

"It'll be okay!" Amy and I harmonize together. Arden shakes her head.

"Sorry." She says giving us a small smile.

"You need to get out of here for a bit." I say. "Come on, Stacie's parents are out of town and she is having a party."

"Yes!" Amy says, jumping off the futon. "I will see you acca-bitches outside the building in ten minutes." Amy then runs out of the room to go and change.

"We better get ready. That's only the second time I've seen her do any vertical running." I say getting up off the futon. Arden heads over to her side of the room to find something to wear.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm good." Arden says, not turning to look at me. I sigh and resume hunting through my clothes.

* * *

Arden's POV

"You made it!" Stacie all but yells at us when go in her house. The ride to Stacie's house had been a little awkward. Beca had called Jesse to see if he could give us a ride, which he said he was happy to do. Only when he and his minivan pulled up at the dorm, Ollie and Donald had been lounging in the back. Jesse explained that he had been hanging out with Donald and Ollie when he got Beca's call. Ollie and I were forced to sit in the back of the minivan together, and since we still we aren't back to normal, it was totally silent. Not a word was said between us. The rest of the van was singing to whatever song was on the radio but I wasn't paying attention.

"Here!" Stacie shoves shots of something into mine and Amy's hands.

_Good_, I think. Needless to say, the ride here had killed my buzz from the margaritas. I down my shot immediately.

"I like her!" Stacie says, grabbing my hand and pulling me to her kitchen. Stacie's kitchen seems to be pretty reflective of the rest of her house; it's well decorated and equipped with high end appliances. In the kitchen Cynthia Rose and Lily are pouring shots with some boys. "Shots bitches!" Stacie shouts.

Five shots later and I've got my buzz back. I'm standing with one of Stacie's tall football playing friends. We have been arguing for the last ten minutes about the state of NFL football with the replacement refs.

"If the normal refs aren't back after the gong show that was Monday's game in Denver, Goodell is an idiot." I say. The football player laughs and steps closer to me. He just stares at me and begins to rub my arm. I am about to pull away when Beca appears at my side, pulling me away. She pulls me to the bathroom, where it is mercifully a lot quieter. How one of Stacie's neighbours hasn't called the cops on us yet is beyond on me, considering how loud the music is.

"Are you okay?" Beca asks, giving me a concerned look. I focus on my reflection in the mirror and take three deep breaths. It's a thing that Clark and I do whenever Charlie is driving us crazy. Focus and breath.

"I'm good." I say turning to look at her. Beca shakes her head slightly but leads me out of the bathroom. I follow her over to where Jesse, Amy and Ollie are relaxing on some leather chairs and couches. I sit beside Amy on the leather couch and look around. Stacie is over by her parent's bar with some boys. Lily is over in a corner with Donald talking about something. Cynthia Rose is still in the kitchen where she's taking money from some poor suckers in a game of blackjack.

"So Arden, why didn't you try out for the Bellas?" Jesse asks. Beca has gone to sit in his lap in one of Stacie's leather chairs. Ollie is lounging in the other leather chair, feet on the table in front of him.

"I don't sing." I say.

"Liar." Ollie says. I turn and glare at him.

"And how would you know?" I say.

"Your sister sold you out. Charlie told me about how you would sing with her when she was practicing for a play." Ollie says.

"That's completely different." I say. Amy's head is going from Ollie to me and the back again.

"What's the difference?" Ollie asks. He gives me a cocky grin and it takes all my control not to get up and knock that grin off his face.

"I don't sing." I state firmly.

"It's okay if you're scared." Ollie says.

_Oh no you didn't_, I think. Ollie isn't the only one who has a competitive streak, especially when alcohol is involved.

"What did you say?" I say, giving him my best death glare. Amy gives a dramatic ooh.

"I said you're scared." Ollie says.

"I'm not scared."

"Prove it." Ollie challenges me.

"Arden! Arden!" Everybody in the room is chanting my name trying to get me to sing. I stand up and everybody goes silent, watching.

_Thank god for those shots_, I think.

"Coming out your mouth with your blah, blah, blah. Zip your lips like a padlock, and meet me at the back with the Jack and the jukebox." I rap out Ke$ha's _Blah, Blah, Blah_. Out of the corner of my eye I see Amy's jaw drop in surprise. "I don't really care where you live at, just turn around boy and let me hit that. Don't be a little bitch with your chit chat. Just show me where your dick's at."

I stop and glance around the room. Ollie has a huge smirk on his face, Amy's jaw still needs scraping from the floor and Beca is giving me an encouraging smile.

"Keep it goin' girl!" Donald calls from the other side of the room.

"Music's up." Stacie sings from across the room. Amy quickly joins in now. People are clapping to the beat of Lily's beat boxing. "Listen hot stuff, I'm in love. With this song, so just hush. Baby shut up, heard enough." Stacie and Amy sing as Amy stands and struts over to stand beside me.

"Stop talking that." I rap out that part before going back to singing. "Blah, blah, blah. Think you'll be getting this? Nah, nah, Nah. Not in the back of my, car-ar-ar. If you keep talking that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." Stacie and Amy are now singing in sync, making me take the lead. I'm surprised to find I don't mind.

"Boy, get my rocks off. Come put a little love in my glove box." Beca sings as she stands up and joins in with us.

"Wanna dance with no pants on?" I sing as Beca, Amy and I strut over to where Stacie is now dancing on the bar. Cynthia Rose has come out of the kitchen and joins us by the bar.

"Holler!" Stacie calls out as she gives Beca and me a helping hand on to the bar.

"Meet me in the back with the Jack and the jukebox." I sing.

"So cut to the chase kid, 'cause I know you don't care what my middle name is." Beca sings.

"I wanna be naked." Stacie sings, giving me a look. She and Beca are dancing no problem on the bar while I just stand still.

_What the hell_. I copy what Stacie is doing and I'm a little surprised to find it easy to do.

"But you're wasted!" Stacie and I sing out together.

"Music's up, listen hot stuff, I'm in love." Stacie, Beca and I are singing all together now in perfect pitch. "With this song, so just hush. Baby shut up, heard enough."

"St-St-St-Stop talking that." Lily uses her beat boxing skills to actually make it sound like the song is skipping at that point. She, Amy and Cynthia Rose are all dancing in front of the bar.

"Blah, blah, blah. Think you'll be getting this?" We are all singing now, with Amy, Cynthia Rose and Stacie singing slightly different then Beca and I while Lily does her beat boxing. I have to admit we sound awesome. "Nah, nah, nah. Not in the back of my, car-ar-ar. If you keep talking that, Blah, blah -"

"Blah, blah, blah" Ollie interrupts us, taking over our song. I jump of the bar to confront him. He walks right up to me so that I have to look up at him.

_Damn him and his height_, I think as I narrow my eyes at him.

"You be delaying, you always be saying some shit. You say I'm playing. I'm never laying the bitch. Sayin' "blah, blah, blah" 'cause I don't care who you are, in this bar. It only matters who I is." Ollie raps out staring at me. We stare at each other for a couple seconds, and I realize that the girls are waiting for me to say the next line.

"Stop talking that, blah, blah, blah." The girls all join in again and I retreat to dance beside Amy, Cynthia Rose and Lily. "Think you'll be getting this? Nah, nah, nah, not in the back of my, car-ar-ar. If you keep talking that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." Stacie and Beca grab me and pull me back onto the bar.

"Blah, blah, blah. Think you'll be getting this? Nah, nah, nah, not in the back of my, car-ar-ar. If you keep talking that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." Lily finishes the song with some awesome beat boxing.

"Stop talking!" I sing out the last part. I then immediately fall off the back of the bar. Literally ass-over-tea-kettle fall off the bar. The room goes silent as Beca jumps off the bar and helps me try and get back up. My head hurts, but no more than if I had bumped it on something. The rational part of me knows that my head should hurt a lot more but the alcohol wins over. I all but jump back up and throw my fist into the air. The crowd in the room cheers, for both my fall and our singing.

"Okay Ke$ha-lite, time to get you to bed." Beca says beside me, shaking her head.


	3. One More Step And We All Fall Down

Beca's POV.

"You're late." Those are the first words that greet me when I enter the radio station. Luke is leaning against the door frame of the booth with his arms crossed. I don't know what his problem is; I'm only ten minutes late. I walk over to the stacks of CDs Luke has left for me on the desk.

"Sorry, my roommate got really drunk last night so I wanted to make sure she was okay before I left." I tell Luke. Luke just rolls his eyes and walks past me to leave.

"Whatever, I need coffee. Keep an eye on things while I'm gone. I put one of your mixes on. It should run for the next hour so just put the CDs away." Luke says as he walks out the door. I roll my eyes and walk over to the volume control for the room and turn it up as loud as it can go.

Stacking CDs is an incredibly mindless task. If it weren't for the fact that Luke lets me play my mixes I probably would have quit. I know Jesse only sticks around because of me, which is sweet. The time passes quickly as the playlist Luke put on plays in the background.

I am in another world completely as I think about what happened last night. Arden had really surprised me. Granted, she was drunk, but she still sounded amazing singing with the rest of the girls. I know she impressed the rest of the Bellas and I have the text messages to prove it. Stacie had sent me about a dozen drunken messages asking about Arden. Now I just have to think of a way to convince her to join.

I am still in my own world when I hear the loud SNAP of the door being slammed. I swing around to see a young man standing in the doorway with a sheepish look on his face. He moved his lips saying something but I can't hear him over the music. I hurry over to the volume control and turn my mix down.

"I knocked but you didn't answer." The young man says. I honestly cannot tell if he is a university student or not. He is a skinny young man, with dark skin, dark black hair and an innocent face. He looks like he could be a student but the dress shirt and vest make him look like he could be older.

"Yeah, that happens sometimes." I say, watching the man. He stands by the door looking awkward. "So how can I help you? My boss just stepped out for some coffee but he'll be back soon."

"Actually I was looking for you. You are Beca Mitchell right?" He says offering me a smile.

"I am. Who are you?" I ask.

"Denver. Denver Klein." He says walking over to me with his hand out stretched. I shake his hand hesitantly. "I work for Buchan Records." I cock my head at an angle. Everybody knows about Buchan Records. They have a fair number of acts signed with them so they make a good amount of record sales each year.

"How can I help you?" I try to keep the suspicious tone out of my voice but I still hear it creep up.

"I've been listening to your mixes on this station for the past week. You're good, really good." Denver says as he walks around, checking out the station. "This is one of yours right?" He points upwards to the speakers on the walls.

"Yeah, I made it last week."

"It's fantastic!" Denver smiles and walks back over to me. "You want to be a DJ when you graduate right?"

"Either that or produce music."

"Can I have one of your mixes to show my boss?" Denver asks. My eyes go wide as what he says sets in. A record company wants one of my mixes.

"Y-yeah. One second." I try hard to not run over to the booth to grab one of my mixes. I hesitate slightly while I decide which mix to give him. I grab one I worked on during the first week of term and walk back over to him.

"Here you go." I hand him the mix.

"Perfect." Denver says as he takes the mix. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet. "Here's my card if you have any questions. I'll be back to let you know what my boss thinks."

"Thank you." I say pathetically as I take his card. I'm still examining the card when Denver he walks back over to the door.

"I've got a good feeling about you Beca." Denver says as he walks out of the station. He waves as he walks past the windows and out of sight. Once he's gone my face breaks into a huge smile as I punch the air. I walk back over to the volume control and pull out my phone to text Jesse.

* * *

Arden's POV

I'm never drinking again. Or at least I am never drunk dancing on a bar again. My head is throbbing, making me wonder what the hell Stacie's floor is made of. I've been awake since Beca left for work but all I've managed to get done is pick up my anatomy textbook and stare at the same page for the last thirty minutes. Another reason why I hate drinking, I never get anything done the next day.

I'm about ready to throw my textbook across the room when I hear Amy's voice from down the hall.

_Crap._

I immediately move to get under my covers and pretend to be asleep but they beat me to it. Amy, Beca and what seems to be the entire Bella squad pour into the room, none to quietly I may add.

"How's the head Coyote Ugly?" Amy asks with a smirk at my current state. I hadn't had the energy to shower this morning so I probably look like hell in my tank top and sweats.

"Painful. What the hell are your floors made of Stacie?" I ask attempting to get out of bed. In my rush to pretend to be asleep I managed to get tangled in my comforter somehow.

"Hardwood." Stacie answers simply from her spot on Beca's desk. She and the rest of the Bellas have made themselves at home in the room, either on Beca's bed or at one of the two desks.

"I'll get out here in a minute so you guys can have your Bella meeting." I say as I attempt to track down my jacket.

"Actually we are here to talk to you." Beca says.

"Wait, what?" I hadn't been paying much attention seeing as my jacket decided to hide under several of my textbooks. I sit back on my bed and look at Beca.

"We are here to get you to join the Bellas." Beca says with her arms crossed as she and the rest of the Bellas watch me.

"And don't even think of saying no." Amy says from Beca's bed, giving me an 'or else' look.

"I'm not really into performing." I say. I know I'm reaching but they've caught me completely off guard. I hadn't expected all of them to confront me. I knew I was going to have some explaining to do to Beca and Amy, but not all eight of them. I've never even met three of them, how could they know about last night?

"I smell horse shit." Amy says.

"Nice try." Stacie says.

"After last night, girl, you are going to have try harder than that." Cynthia Rose says. I see Lily move her lips but I don't hear a word. Not that I need to, it's probably safe to assume she is saying something similar to the rest of the Bellas.

"Seriously Arden, you were awesome last night." Beca says walking over to my bed. I can feel my headache growing now. Why did all of them have to be here?

"I can't." I say, trying to be more assertive. Joining a signing group that competes in national competitions is definitely not a good idea.

"What's one good reason?" Stacie asks.

"I just can't." I wish they weren't all here. If it was just Beca I could handle this. They all start talking at the same time again, Amy's protest being the loudest of all.

I never understood why, in movies, they showed the world spinning when everyone starts talking to the protagonist all at once. Until now that is. I can literally feel the G-force pushing me back against the headboard I'm leaning against.

"Fine!" I have to shout to be heard they have gotten so loud. "I'll do it; I just want it on record that I'm doing this against better judgement." All of the girls start objecting again which only makes my head throb more.

"Please, turn down the volume. My head is killing me." I say. Beca gives me a concerned look as she hands me two Advil. What the hell she had Advil this whole time? I glare at her as I down the pills with a gulp of water. I focus on my drink and try to ignore the smug looks from Amy and the rest of the Bellas.

"Now that that's settled, meet us in the Babbie Theatre at six." Beca says as the Bellas all file out of the room.

"Why?" I ask.

"You'll see." Is as Amy says and she shares a conspiratorially look with the rest of the Bellas.

"It was the only way I could get you to join." Beca says quietly to me as Amy gives me a parting wave as she leaves.

"Traitor." I reply.

* * *

Beca's POV

Despite the fact that it took unit almost six for everything to be set up, the initiation ceremony goes off without a hitch. I shake my head slightly as I remind myself that the only reason it took so long to get set up was because Amy kept finishing off the "blood of past Bellas", which resulted in Cynthia Rose to have to go and drive to get some more three times. Other than Arden we decided to recruit another freshman named Katie. She was decent at auditions, though she came off as a little quiet. She's still nothing compared to Lily.

Jesse had come up to us the minute we got to the party. Apparently Bumper had shown up at the Treble House right before their initiation ceremony and demanded a vote on whether or not he should be allowed back in. Even Benji had voted to allow him back in, which made Jesse furious. Ollie was not impressed either to learn that Bumper was back, but neither Ollie nor Jesse displeasure could compare to Amy's.

The minute Amy saw Bumper she lobbed the first thing she could find at him. Unfortunately for Bumper, the first thing she could get her hands on was the "Bella Blood" that Ashley had been holding. Bumper had stormed away from the party covered in the thick, red liquid.

"I have a bone to pick with you, o captain my captain." Amy says while we are in the process of putting away the chairs from our first Bellas practice the day after the initiation ceremony.

"And what would that be?" I ask Amy, rolling my eyes. I've given up arguing with them about whether I am the leader or not. They've agreed to my delegation system for arrangements and choreography so it's a moot point anyways.

"I have it on good authority that you gave one of your mixes to a record company yesterday." Amy says, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at me. This gets all of the girls' attention.

"Some guy from Buchan Records came to the station yesterday and asked for one of my mixes." I say.

"And you didn't tell us because?" Jessica asks from over by the chalk board.

"I didn't want to make a big deal of it."

"So who was the guy?" Ashley asks.

"Denver Klein. He said he had been listening to the station and had heard my mixes." I say. "Now can we finish cleaning up before maintenance comes in here and yells at us for wearing heels in here again?" Cleaning still takes longer then it should have because the girls aren't willing to let it go. Amy continued to question me all the way back to the dorm, where I managed to get rid of her by pretending to have a paper to finish.

It isn't until I close the door, silencing Amy's protests, that I realize that Arden didn't follow me back to the dorm.

* * *

Arden's POV

I had frozen the minute I heard Beca say that Denver Klein had shown up at the radio station. All of the happiness and camaraderie I had been feeling from the practice disappeared instantly. It wasn't until Beca and the rest of the girls had all gone back to cleaning up that I unfroze and slipped out of the room. After I was out of the building I all but ran to the Treble house, where I knew Ollie was hanging out with Donald and Benji. It was Benji who answered the door.

"Hey Arden." Benji says once the door is open. It only takes one look at my face for his expression to go from happy to concern.

"What's wrong?" He asks in an apprehensive voice.

"Is Ollie here?" I force my voice to stay flat.

"Uh, yah he is. Want to come inside?" The look of concern in his eyes is almost too much.

"No thank you."

"Okay, I'll go get him." Benji leaves the door open and I catch a glimpse of four of the Trebles in the hot tub looking at me. I turn away and take a couple steps away from the door.

After a few minutes Ollie is standing in the doorway. He takes one look and me and grabs his jacket from inside the doorway. I don't say anything, instead leading him away from the house. Ollie doesn't say anything until we've made it to the empty outdoor theatre where the acca-initiation party had been held.

"What going on Arden?" He asks. I turn and look at him. There is a look of fear on his face; I've really got him scared. The sun has long since set, the moon casting shadows all throughout the theatre.

"Lennon knows I'm here Ollie. He sent Klein to go and talk to Beca." I say. Ollie doesn't say anything for a minute, just frowns.

"What did Klein say to Beca?"

"He asked for one of her mixes. He said he's been listening to the station for a while now."

"Do you know if he said anything about you?"

"No, I think Beca would have said something if he had." I say. Ollie is pacing in front of me now. "What difference does it make? It's not like this is a coincidence Ollie."

"It could be. Klein isn't devious like Lennon. There's a chance he doesn't know that Beca is your roommate."

"So you think Klein just happens to show up here? In fucking Baton Rouge and just happens to hear one of Beca's mixes on a college radio station?" I snap at him. Ollie stops his pacing and frowns at me.

"What did you tell Beca?" He asks.

"Nothing, I left practice without any of them noticing."

"Of course you did." Ollie says shaking his head.

"What was I supposed to say Ollie!?" I'm yelling at him now. "Hey Beca, you know that guy from Buchan Records who asked for one of your mixes? Well I think he's only here because his boss is trying to get at me. That doesn't exactly roll off the tongue!" Ollie sighs and walks over to me as I try hard not to break down.

"I can't let it happen again Ollie. I won't let him hurt her or any of the others." I say, looking Ollie straight in the eye. "I won't let him do this again."

"We'll figure this out." Ollie says. Now I'm the one pacing, trying to calm down.

"Can you talk to Jesse? No doubt Benji mentioned my appearance at the Treble house to him." I ask Ollie.

"What should I tell him?"

"Warn him about Lennon."

"But don't tell him everything?"

"No." I stop my pacing to look at Ollie. "Ollie if they knew the truth, they'd walk away. And then Lennon wins."

"You're not giving them much credit Arden." Ollie says.

"Please Ollie." I say. Ollie sighs in defeat.

"Okay Arden." He turns and walks away, leaving me with my thoughts.

Once Ollie is out of sight, I reach down, grab an empty beer bottle left behind from the party last night and throw it as hard as I can. I sound of the glass exploding on contact with the cement is louder then I thought it would be. The sound echoes piercingly across the empty space.

It's not like Klein showing up has destroyed my world. No, it's just hanging by a thread. It has now become chess match and I've just watched my last castle be taken, leaving me with just the king and queen against a complete opposition. One wrong move and I'm done here.

I just need to figure out my next move.

* * *

Beca's POV

It's been two hours since I've got back from Bella practice and still no word from Arden. I'm officially worried. Benji texted me shortly after I got back saying that Arden had showed up at the Treble house looking like shit, asking for Ollie. Neither she nor Ollie has been heard from since.

I'm halfway across the dorm to go and look for her when the door opens. Arden freezes in the doorway and drops her gaze to the floor immediately.

"Hey." Arden says as she walks over to her bed. I don't know why but suddenly the awkwardness between us is palpable. I can feel it in the air slowing my movements, making our movements more drawn out.

"Where'd you disappear to after practice? You didn't answer my text." I say as I walk over to my desk chair. Arden sits at her own desk, turning her chair to face me.

"Sorry. I got a call from Charlie. There was this audition for a TV role she was going out for and she didn't get it. She was really upset." Arden pauses and turns to look at her picture of her and her siblings. "She kept saying how she wasn't able to prepare properly because I wasn't there to run through the script with her. And then Clark was texting me, saying he had tried all of the things we usually do to calm Charlie down and none of it was working. So I went to the Treble house to go and talk to Ollie."

"I'm so sorry dude. Is your sister okay now?" I say. Arden is still looking at the picture, looking slightly overwhelmed.

"Clark texted me 20 minutes ago saying Mom talked to Charlie and calmed her down." Arden says. Neither of us says anything for a couple minutes until Arden turns away from the picture.

"She'll be okay. And I'm sorry I didn't get to congratulate you on giving one of your mixes away to a record company." Arden says, giving me a smile.

"Thanks, it's no big deal really." I say. Arden shakes her head slightly.

"It's a big deal. I know Buchan Records; they're based out of Vegas. They're a pretty big deal." Arden says.

"What do you know about them?" I ask curiously.

"I know they're still considered up-and-coming but they do have a fair number of bands and artists signed with them…" Arden pauses, frowning slightly.

"What?"

"Buchan's CEO, Lennon Buchan. He's pretty ruthless from what my Dad and Ollie's dad say. Dad and Oliver have had dealings with him in the past and they've both said he can get nasty when he doesn't get his way." Arden says. Her phone goes off in her pocket and she turns away from the conversation, which gives me a bit of time to think.

Arden and Ollie's dads know the CEO of Buchan Records. And now she's warning me about him. My question about how exactly they know Lennon Buchan is on the tip of my tongue when I decide against it. Arden is my friend, if there was something more to their relationship with Lennon Buchan she would tell me.

I turn around to work on my weekly mix with this nagging thought in the back of my mind.


	4. That Don't Impress Me Much

Beca's POV

The next four weeks go by incredibly fast. A dozen Bella practices through and we've finally got a handle on our set for Sectionals. Amy and Cynthia Rose are taking the leads for the set this time while Stacie and I are going to take the lead for Regionals. After the first practice, which had mostly consisted of us talking and getting to know one another, I had asked all of the girls who wanted a solo and who wanted to take the lead in choreography.

To no one's surprise, Amy's hand had shot in the air for a solo. Cynthia Rose and Stacie volunteered for taking a solo, while Ashley and Jessica opted for choreography. Despite the delegation, Stacie was still very much involved in the dancing. She had been tutoring all of the girls in sensuous dancing for the routine.

Katie and Arden proved to be fast learners, Arden more so than Katie. Arden's practicing with her sister was very helpful as she was able to catch on to the dancing faster. She also was having an easier time learning how to sing on pitch with all of the girls.

Neither Arden nor I had brought up Buchan Records since the night after our first practice. I still had a nagging feeling that there was more to the story than Arden was telling but I was simply too busy to confront her. Between Bella practices, Jesse, the radio station and school I had no extra time to talk to her.

"So all we just chose a song, match one word and then go with it?" Arden asks from her side of the room. We are in the process of getting ready for the Riff-Off. Well, Arden is. I'm relaxing on my bed, flipping through my IPod while she digs around in her closet for something to wear. Amy had threatened to rip her blouse off her and make her go topless if she wore another one to the Riff-Off.

"Yeah, be careful about the word matching thing. We were robbed last year by the Trebles because I said it's instead of it." I say.

"So how's this?" I turn and look at Arden. Instead of her usual blouse and jeans attire she is dressed in a red tank-top and fashionable cropped blazer.

"Oh my god, I honestly thought you didn't own anything remotely sexy!" Stacie says as she lets herself into our room. I laugh as Arden glares at Stacie.

"I live in Vegas; of course I own sexy clothes." Arden says.

"Come on guys, Amy will kill all three of us if we're late." I say getting off my bed. Arden and Stacie continue to bicker about Arden's wardrobe and general sex appeal for the entire 20 minute walk to the emptied out pool where the Riff-Off is being held again this year.

"Beer?" Amy asks once we reach where she and the rest of the Bellas have been waiting. I accept the beer and do a quick scan of the pool. Despite my worries, we seem to have beaten most of the High Notes and BU Harmonics here. Jesse spots me from where he is standing with the other Trebles. He smiles and walks over to us.

"So are you ready?" Jesse asks. I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Are you here to spy on us?" I ask.

"No, no. I'm here to offer a peaceful and heartfelt good luck." I open my mouth to reply but at that moment the rest of the High Notes and BU Harmonics wander over to their respective groups. Well the High Notes wander, the BU Harmonics march quite purposely and glare at us. Seems they haven't forgotten being basically forgotten at the end of last years Riff-Off.

"All right acca-ballers, let's get this thing started!" Justin calls out from the center of the pool. He seems annoyed to be starting late. He pulls out the remote and points it at the wall where the spinning wheel is now projected.

"Our first category is… for the second year in a row, songs about sex!" Justin yells out to the crowd. There is a sudden buzzing before…

"Alright!" Ollie runs forward as he belts out the opening of Buckcherry's _Crazy Bitch_.

"Break me down, you got a lovely face. We're going to your place. And now you got to freak me out." The rest of the Trebles now move up and stand behind Ollie. Donald is making the guitar sounds while the rest back Ollie up with the singing.

"Scream so loud, getting fuckin' laid! You want me to stay, but I got to make my way." Ollie points at Arden now and out of the corner of my eye I see her roll her eyes. I just shake my head, glad that the awkwardness between them is gone.

"Hey! You're crazy bitch. But you fuck so good, I'm on top of it. When I dream, I'm doing you all night. Scratches all down my back to keep me right on. Hey, you're crazy bitch. But you fuck so good, I'm on top of it. When I –"

"I been really trying, baby." Stacie walks over to the boys and cuts them off with Marvin Gaye's _Let's Get It On_. The crowd cheers her on and I motion to the rest of the girls to follow her. We all walk up behind her, singing the instrumental for the song.

"Tryin to hold back these feelings for so long. And if you feel, like I feel baby. Come on, oh, come on." I blow a kiss at Jesse who pretends to catch it.

"Let's get it on. Let's get it on. Let's get it on. Let's get it on. We're all sensitive people. With so much love to give, understand me sugar. Since we got to be, let's say –"

"Say hey-o. Can you hear me?" Donald walks up and cuts us off.

"Uh, can you hear me? One more time, say hey-o. Can you hear me? I can make it rain, make it soaked all night. You just give me the jam, making it feel alright." Donald grins and nods at Lily, who blushed slightly.

"That ass makes me wanna oooh. You know exactly what you do-ooh. I would really like to take that home. Everybody here knows." The rest of the Trebles have once again come forward, accompanying Donald in Mike Posner's _Looks like Sex_.

"She looks like sex, sex, sex, sex. She looks like sex, sex, sex, sex. She looks like sex, sex, sex, sex. She looks like –"

"Like to put you in a trance." One of the girls for the BU Harmonics comes forward and cuts Donald off.

"If I take you from behind, push myself into your mind. When you least expect it, will you try and reject it. If I'm in charge and I treat you like a child. Will you let yourself go wild? Let my mouth go where it wants to." The girl from the BU Harmonics sings Madonna's _Erotica_ while the rest of her groups back her up.

"Give it up, do as I say. Give it up and let me have my way. I'll give you love; I'll hit you like a truck. I'll give you love –"

"Love your sushi roll, hotter than wasabi. I race for your love, shake and bake, Ricky Bobby." Cynthia Rose goes up and cuts the BU Harmonics off with Drake's verse from _Bedrock_.

"I'm at the W but I can't meet you in the lobby. Girl I gotta watch my back 'cause I'm not just anybody. I see them standing in line, just to get beside her. I let her see the Aston and let the rest surprise her. That's when we disappear; you need GPS to find her. Oh that was your girl, I thought I recognized her." The crowd laughs and ohhs at the burn Cynthia Rose raps to the rejected looking BU Harmonics. I don't have to give the girls any signals this time, we all walk forward and join in singing the course.

"Ooh baby. I be stuck to you like glue, baby. Wanna spend it all on you, baby. My room is the g-spot. Call me Mr. Flintstone. I can make your bedrock. I can make your bedrock. I can make your bedrock girl. I can make your bedrock. I can make your bedrock." I make a cut off motion from beside Cynthia Rose and we all fall silent.

"The laughter from the crowd has decided it." Justin says as he walks to the middle of the pool. He turns to the BU Harmonics. "You are…"

Everyone claps and yells "Cut off!" The girl from the BU Harmonics shoots us a glare as she and the rest of her group walk off the invisible stage.

I turn and grin at Jesse. With the BU Harmonics out, this has basically become a competition between the Trebles and the Bellas. Jesse raises an eyebrow at me and returns my grin.

"And our next category is… hits from the 90's!" Justin calls out to the crowd.

* * *

Arden's POV.

"What is love?" Bumper doesn't miss a beat, he immediately runs forward and starts singing Haddaway's one hit wonder.

"Baby, don't hurt me. Don't hurt me no more. Baby, don't hurt me. Don't hurt me no more."

"Oh, hell no." Amy says under her breath. She swings around and glares at Beca. "Wannbe, Spice Girls." Beca raises her eyebrows at Amy's anger, but wisely doesn't comment.

"What is love?" Bumper has continued to sing, the Trebles now backing him up.

"Yeah, I don't know why you're not there. I give you my love but you don't care. So –"

"So tell me what you want, what you really, really want." Amy cuts off a bemused looking Bumper.

"I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want." Beca sings back to Amy, acting much more theatrical then I've ever seen her. I glance at my beer and wonder what the hell they out in it to make Beca act part cheerleader.

"So tell me what you want, what you really, really want." Amy sings back.

"I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna." All of the Bellas start singing now so I join in.

"I wanna really, really, really, wanna zigazig ha." Lily scratches out the last part, shooting Donald a look.

"If you want my future, forget my past." Amy sings.

"If you wanna get with me, better make it fast." Stacie sings.

"Now don't go wasting, my precious time." Beca sings.

"Get your act together, we could be just fine." Cynthia Rose sings.

"I'll tell you –"

"You gotta get your groove on, before you go get paid." Jesse comes forward, cutting Amy off. She groans and we all walk back.

"So tip up your cup and throw your hands up. And let me hear the party say. I'm kinda buzzed and it's all because." Jesse sings.

"This is how we do it." The rest of the Trebles back Jesse up for this part.

"South Central does it like nobody does."

"This is how we do it."

"To all my neighbours you got much flavour."

"That doesn't impress me." I say under my breath as I watch Ollie and the rest of the Trebles sing the chorus of Montell Jordan's _This Is How We Do It_.

"I know. This song wasn't really even a hit." Stacie says beside me.

"Wait." I can literally hear the light bulb click in my head as I turn and look at the rest of the girls. "_That Don't Impress Me Much_, Shania Twain. You guys know the song?"

"We got you girl." Cynthia Rose says with a grin.

"We'll follow your lead." Beca says, giving me an encouraging smile. I turn back to the Trebles and wait for the right word.

"This is how we do it. All hands are in the air. And wave them from here to there. If you're an O.G. Mack or a wanna-be player. You see the hood's been good to me. Ever since I–" I run forward and cut Jesse and the Trebles off.

_Here goes nothing._

"I never knew a guy who carried a mirror in his pocket. And a comb up his sleeve, just in case." I'm trying to hold back a smile as Ollie rolls his eyes at my song choice. The crowd gives a cheer so I don't really care whet he thinks.

"And all that extra hold gel in your hair outta lock it.' Cause Heaven forbid. It should fall outta place."

"Oh-oo-oh, you think you're special." The Bellas walk up beside me and back me up.

"Oh-oo-oh, you think you're something else."

"Okay, so you're Brad Pitt." I say as I raise my eyebrows at Ollie. The crowd just laughs and ohhs again as Ollie mimes being shot in the heart.

"That don't impress me much. So you got the looks but have you got the touch? Don't get me wrong, yeah I think you're alright. But that won't keep me warm in the middle of the night." I pause as Lily sings out the guitar.

"That don't impress me much." I say grinning at Ollie. The crowd cheers louder as Beca motions for us to stop.

"Very good job ladies, very impressive." Justin says to us as he walks to the middle of the pool again. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new winner!"

Beca is beaming as Amy runs forward to take the mic from Justin. She walks over to Bumper and starts teasing him, waving the mic at him.

"Shania Twain, really?" Ollie says, drawing my attention away from Amy, who is now tapping the mic on Bumper's chest. "I didn't take you for a country girl."

"Shania Twain was really more pop then country." I say, smiling at Ollie. I can't stop smiling, the camaraderie I feel from both our winning and general awesomeness is too much.

"You are practically glowing." Ollie says, chuckling at me. I just roll my eyes. "And to think, a month ago you were thinking of quitting."

Okay, that killed my mood. I don't even ask how Ollie knew that I had been thinking of quitting, he knows me too well at this point.

I had been considering quitting, but I knew if I quit Beca and the rest of the girls would start asking questions. Especially Beca, she would have been demanding answers from me. And if she didn't get them she would start asking around and find out anyways. No, I knew it was pointless to quit at that point.

Besides, it has been a month and Beca hasn't mentioned Buchan records at all. Ollie could be right; Lennon may not know I'm here.

I shake my head slightly, trying to get rid of my negative thoughts. I shouldn't be feeling anything but happy right now.

"Come on, let's go get a beer." I say as I turn and walk over to where the cooler is.

"Fine but no dancing on the bar tonight."

* * *

A/N: I updated this one quicker then normal because I won't be able to post anything new until the New Year. I'm trying to think of ways to differentiate between normal dialogue and singing so if anyone has a good idea please let me know.


	5. Here Come The Dreams Of You And Me

A/N: I am so sorry for the long time between updates. Holidays were crazy and then I had major laptop problems. I have the next chapter writtne already so I should be able to update soon. Thank you for sticking with this story.

* * *

Arden's POV

"Owe! Stacie!" I say as I move my head away from her grasp.

"It's not my fault hair spray doesn't make your hair stay!" Stacie says exasperatedly as she throws her hands in the air.

"It's this humidity. My hair is used to dry desert air." I grumble. Stacie has spent the last two hours trying to tame my hair to no avail. Even with two cans of hair spray and a pack of bobby pins all she has managed to do is give me a headache. Beca has long since fled from our dorm room, mumbling something about meeting up with someone for coffee.

"Well we need to find you a super sexy style for Regionals." Stacie says.

"I already let you pick out my outfit and let you talk me into buying those four-inch heels; I think I can choose my hairstyle." I say as I grab the hair brush Stacie had left abandoned on the desk. All of the hairspray in my hair is driving me crazy.

"Fine, you can be in charge of that mane you call hair. Oh, how are you wearing your scarf? That's like, the one thing we kept from the old Bellas." Stacie says, holding my yellow Bella scarf in front of me. I toss my brush on to my bed and walk over to the mirror. Stacie turns and watches me in the mirror.

"I don't know. I didn't really think about it." I say. Stacie has me dressed in a very low-cut red top ("You look amazing in red!"), tight jeans and these ridiculous four inch black pumps. If it wasn't for the fact that I have worn heels since high school I would have never listened to Stacie. But after she saw me walking in them she had all but forced me to buy them. Despite her constant assurances that I walk like a natural in them, I have serious doubts about whether I'll be able to _dance_ in them. I texted Beca after Stacie and I left the store and she had texted back promising me that she would go with me to return them if I fell during practice tomorrow.

"Well most of us just wrap them around our wrists but Lily wears hers in her back pocket and Aubrey wore hers around her neck like the old Bellas did. Oh and Chloe wore hers around her waist like a belt." Stacie says.

"Did someone say my name?" Stacie and I turn to see Beca and a red-headed woman I've never met standing in the door way.

"Oh my god! Chloe!" Stacie squeals. So this is Chloe. From what Beca and the other girls have said Chloe was the good cop of the Bellas leadership last year. She also had some boundary issues apparently but so do most of the Bellas.

"Stacie!" Chloe says as she returns Stacie's hug. Beca looks at me with a raised eyebrow, wordlessly asking how the hair dressing went. I grimace, communicating just how bad it was. I know Stacie meant well but that doesn't do much to appease my headache.

"And you're certainly not Kimmy-Jin." Chloe says, turning to me.

"God no, this is Arden. She actually smiles." Beca says.

"It's nice to meet you." I say with a smile. Chloe beams back at me as she walks over and gives me a hug like she's known me for years. Over her shoulder I see Beca trying not to smirk. If this is what they meant by boundary issues then it will be no problem. Charlie has more boundary problems than this.

"You look amazing!" Chloe says, stepping back to look at my outfit.

"It's what she's going to wear to Regionals. I picked it out for her." Stacie says.

"Where's her Bella scarf?" Chloe says. Stacie hands her the scarf and they both turn to me. I look at Beca, eyes wide, mutely asking her to step in. I've had enough of being a Bella Barbie for one day.

"Chloe don't you want to hear the set we're going to perform for Regionals?" Beca asks from over by her desk. Thankfully this distracts Chloe and Stacie from the Bella scarf and I'm able to grab my robe and shower kit and sneak out of the room. As I hurriedly walk to the showers to get rid of this hairspray I send Beca a quick thank you text.

* * *

It's only half on purpose that I end up taking a ridiculously long shower. Half of the reason was because of all the crap Stacie put in my hair, the other half being that I had no desire to go back to being dressed up by Stacie.

Luckily though by the time I've dried my hair and made it back to the dorm there is just Beca and Chloe listening to Beca's mixes, no Stacie.

"You took a long time." Beca says as I walk over to my closet.

"There was a lot of hair spray that I had to wash out." I say. I just dump the clothes Stacie and I bought on the ground. I don't even have the energy to hang them up. Spending the day shopping with Stacie had been exhausting.

"I can tell." Beca says, glancing over at the empty hair spray cans. I close my eyes and flop down on my bed. I really need a nap.

"So are you excited for the Winter Formal?" Chloe asks cheerfully from the other side of the room. I don't even open my eyes. Ever since they had announced the date for the Formal, Amy had ranted non-stop about it.

"Oh yeah. Ecstatic." I don't even have look at Beca to know she is rolling her eyes; it's more than evident from the sarcasm in her voice.

"It's your own fault. You were the one who let Amy be in charge of the Bella bonding activities." I say.

"I know." Beca grumbles. We've had this conversation many times before.

"Why would you let Fat Amy be in charge of that in the first place?" Chloe asks bewilderedly.

"I was trying to delegate things within the group." Beca says.

"Well you should really think about revoking that rule. She has abused her privilege from Day 1." I say, rolling over in my bed to face them.

"Do you know what you're wearing?" Chloe asks, looking between me and Beca. Luckily, being from Vegas, I have a large supply of appropriate dresses, a fair number of which I brought here with me.

"I do. Beca is being stubborn though and hasn't bought anything yet." I say.

"Dude!" Beca says as Chloe rounds on her.

"You don't have a dress yet!?" Chloe all but yells this at Beca, who just gives me a pointed look. "The Formal is next weekend!"

"I know, I know. I just haven't had any time. Between Bella rehearsals, Jesse, school and work, I've been busy." Beca says.

"Well you aren't busy now." Chloe says, getting up and grabbing her purse. "Come on you two!" Beca looks at me and gives me another pointed look, silently blaming me for this impromptu shopping trip.

_So much for a nap._ I think as I follow Beca and Chloe out of the dorm.

* * *

Beca's POV

"Here, try this one." Chloe says as she throws another dress into my changing room. We got to the mall almost three hours ago and Chloe and Arden have had me trying on dresses and shoes since we got here.

"This one too!" Arden says as she tosses another dress over the door, with this one landing right on my head. I'm officially buried in dresses.

_This is the last straw._ I think as I pull the new dress off my head.

"Enough! I am drowning in dresses in there." I say as I storm out of the dressing room. I'm glaring at both Chloe and Arden but it seems to be lost one them. Arden is smiling while Chloe is standing there, her mouth dropped in a comical 'O'.

"Oh Beca, you look stunning." Chloe gushes and I just roll my eyes. What am I wearing a wedding dress or something? I turn to look at the mirror, and okay, I look awesome. My black dress is form-fitting, with the very subtle gold sparkles catching the light.

"That dress is amazing." Arden says. "Aren't you glad Chloe dragged you out here?"

I shoot Arden a look as I dig my phone out of my purse. I had heard it go off while I had been changing but Chloe had refused to give me the phone unless I came out and showed them a dress.

_How's dress shopping? Feel like Brittany Murphy in Clueless yet?_ I roll my eyes at Jesse's text. Of course he would mention that movie. I had agreed to watch it with him three weeks ago, mostly to just get it off that "movification" list of his. I was dead set against silly teen movies, especially one that had Alicia Silverstone acting like a spoiled brat. But Jesse had insisted that it was an important movie from the 90's that everyone in our age group had watched it.

I grin to myself as I remember how I had managed to distract Jesse away from the movie, sometime after Alicia found out her boyfriend was gay.

"Is that Jesse?" Chloe asks, pulling me out of my daydream.

"Yes, he wants to know how shopping is going." I say.

"Oh, do you want me to take a picture of you in that dress to send to him?" Chloe asks excitedly.

"No, I think I'll surprise him at the Formal. I'd much rather see his face." I say with a smirk as I send Jesse a text back.

As Chloe, Arden and I walk over to the clerk to pay for my new dress I hear Shania Twain's _That Don't Impress Me Much_ playing softly from Arden's purse.

"Really, Arden?" I ask, with an arched eyebrow as she pulls out her phone. She rolls her eyes as she checks her phone, and then frowns.

"Who is it?" Chloe asks.

"My sister. I gotta take this." Arden says.

"Yeah, of course." Chloe says. I give Arden a look and she just nods, silently saying everything's okay.

"I saw that." Chloe says as Arden walks out of the store.

"Saw what?" I ask.

"That not-so-subtle silent conversation between you and Arden just now." Chloe says simply. "You've been having them all day."

"And your point is?" I ask.

"I'm just commenting on you and your new best friend. You know, if it weren't for the fact that I've seen you naked, I would probably be jealous. Unless she's seen you naked too?" Chloe says. I roll my eyes.

"No, Arden has not seen me naked." I say. The guy at the till is staring at me and Chloe, like we've just made his day or something.

"From what Amy and the other girls have said Arden has become your second in command. You guys are like me and Aubrey." Chloe says. I give a bark of laughter at this comparison.

"I am not Aubrey." I say as I throw my dress at the guy in the till.

"No like, with Aubrey, I'm the one who she talks to when she is getting super neurotic about things. Last year I was the one who helped her with being in charge of the Bellas." Chloe explains.

"And how is that like me and Arden?"

"You and Arden just seem to have this connection; I mean you guys don't have to say anything to have conversations. Tell me if I'm wrong but I bet that, besides Jesse, she is the one who you ask for opinions about stuff."

She does have me there. I ask Jesse for his help and advice about lots of things. But Jesse is still a Treblemaker and we still have a fairly intense, albeit friendly, competition between our two groups. So when it comes to Bella stuff, Arden is the one who I ask. Now that I think about it, I usually ask her for an opinion before I ask Amy or text Chloe.

"We still aren't you and Aubrey." I say. "Come on, let's go get Arden and get out of here."

Chloe and I walk out of the store and spot Arden standing not to far away, still on the phone with Charlie.

"Tell her not to worry about it. I'm about to go back to the dorm to get my passport and then I'll be on the way…" We hear Arden say to her sister as we get closer. "Yes, I'm hurrying! Bye, I'll text you when I get a flight."

"What's going on?" Chloe asks. Arden turns to us with the biggest smile on her face.

"My mom just went into labour."

* * *

"He's adorable Arden."

"He has the same eyes as you and your mom."

It's the day of the Formal and Amy, Stacie, Arden and I are all getting ready in our room. Arden had landed an hour ago, which was just enough time for her to get swept up in the whirlwind that is Fat Amy. After Chloe left on Thursday, Amy started to go a little crazier than usual. She was determined to have all the Bellas go to the Formal. She literally accosted Lily in the hallway when she couldn't hear Lily tell her that she was indeed coming. Now that Arden is back Amy has turned her attention on her. She has been here the entire time, just so she could ensure that Arden would be ready in time. I feel bad for Arden, but she is handling the craziness quite well considering she probably hasn't had a decent sleep in a week.

Arden had made it to the hospital in Vegas just in time to see her mom before her little brother was born. I can't imagine that bringing a newborn home had been conducive for getting some sleep. The only reason Arden had come back at all was because our finals started next week. If it weren't for finals I doubt any of us would have seen her until the New Year.

"What's his name?" Stacie asked. Currently Stacie, Amy and I are sitting on Arden's bed, looking at pictures of her little brother on her phone. Arden is standing in front her mirror, fixing her hair.

"Ben Dover Junior. We've been calling him DJ for short." Arden says.

"DJ?" I ask.

"Well, yeah. I mean they can't go around calling him BJ. That would lead to some pretty awkward moments at the park. Yelling, 'Oi! BJ, don't put that in your mouth' might cause some little old grandma to have a heart attack." Amy says simply, as if that was the most obvious thing and I should have known that. Arden and I share a look as Stacie agrees with Amy.

"Exactly." Arden says tactfully. "So he's Dover Junior."

_Knock, knock, knock._ All four of us raise our heads at the knock on our door. Stacie jumps up to answer the door.

"Beca, your lover is here." Stacie says dramatically. I give my head a small shake as Jesse comes in. He stops short once he sees me.

"Wow. You, Ms. Mitchell, look so beautiful." Jesse says with a big smile. I stand up and walk over to him.

"You look quite handsome yourself, Mr. Swanson." I say as I pull him down for a quick kiss. I glance over my shoulder at the other three girls. "See you guys there."

Jesse grins as he holds his arm out for me to take. I smile as I take his arm. It's only about a ten minute walk from our building to Babbie Theatre where we usually hold our Bella practices. I have to say I'm a little excited to see what the decorations will be like. We've been promised by the school that they wouldn't hold back this year with the budget so it should be good.

And boy, did they deliver.

Gone are the usual metal stands, piano and white board. Instead they turned our theatre into a winter wonderland. Fake snow is piled around the perimeter of the inside of the theatre. The usually boring white walls have been painted a dark blue with white, making it look like a dark snowy night. Lights have been hung from wall to wall, just low enough that Jesse could reach up and grab one if he wanted. Lights hang down from them, with the blue lights shimmering. The lights look like icicles dancing in a blue light. Because the lights are hung so low the room takes on an intimate feeling.

A dance floor has been set up in the middle of the room. I nudge Jesse slightly, drawing his attention to Luke, who is standing by the DJ booth set up near the dance floor. Jesse and I share a smile as we watch Luke yell at Kyle, the freshman intern who was forced to work the dance with Luke. I feel really bad for the kid. But he and Luke were only supposed to be here for a couple hours. After Jesse let slip earlier in the week that we were going to be here, Luke told me that after midnight I was supposed to be in charge of the music. That was one the reasons I put up with Amy's craziness this week. I was going to get to play my mixes for the entire school in my first DJ gig since those stupid high school parties.

The far wall is lined with long buffet tables. Now it's Jesse's turn to nudge me and draw my attention to the many punch bowls on the tables. I laugh as I remember the dozen flasks Bumper and the rest of the Trebles have stashed on their persons. Technically this dance is supposed to be a "dry" dance, but come on. Its college, do they really expect us to follow that rule?

"So what do you think? Ashley, Jessica and I were on the decorating committee this year." Stacie says as she comes up behind us.

"It looks amazing Stacie. You guys did an excellent job." Jesse says.

"No date?" I ask.

"Of course not. This way I get my choice of boys to go home with. Speaking of boys…" Stacie says as she spots a guy across the theatre. "I'll see you later."

"Watch as the lioness stalks her prey. She's got him cornered, and now she goes in for the kill." Jesse says in his best interpretation of Steve Irwin as Stacie approaches the boy and draws him into conversation.

"You're such a nerd." I say in an affectionate tone.

* * *

I'll admit I'm having fun. We've been dancing for the last three hours and I've barely noticed the time passing. Dancing with Jesse is just… more than I thought it would be. I mean I knew he was a good dancer because of his performances with the Trebles but I hadn't realized how intimate it would be.

It wasn't until Jesse spun me around while we danced to Tegan and Sara's _Closer_ that I noticed Luke standing beside the booth, glaring at us.

"Luke's pissed at us." I have to shout this at Jesse twice for him to hear me. Once he does he starts to look around the room to find him. Once he finds him he frowns and then checks his watch.

"No wonder, it's almost midnight. You're on soon my lady." Jesse says.

"We should probably go let Luke off the hook then, before he sends Kyle after us."

"Ah yes, terrifying Kyle the intern." Jesse says with a laugh. None the less Jesse takes my hand and we start to make our way out of the throng of dancing students. We pass by Arden and Ollie, who are dancing and singing loudly along to the song with Lily and Donald. We also pass by Amy who is showing a bewildered Bumper her ''pirate dancing'' and Stacie who is dancing between two boys, neither of which is the boy from the start of the Formal.

Luke continues to glare at us until we finally make it over to him.

"Okay, I'm out. I've got it set on a playlist for the next half hour, after that you're in charge. Just keep an eye on the songs; they'll blame me if you play something like _Closer_, Nine Inch Nails. For some reason they don't exactly like songs like that." Luke says grumpily. He then turns on his heel and storms out.

"Is it okay if I go dance?" Kyle asks timidly.

"Yeah, go crazy kid." I say. Kyle beams at us and then disappears into the crowd.

"Damn, Luke has that kid scared bad." Ollie says as he and Arden come up beside us.

"Yeah, poor kid." Jesse says.

"Stacie and the girls did an awesome job. I honestly feel like I'm somewhere up north or something." Ollie says.

"I can't believe they let us put that much vodka in the punch." Jesse says. For the first hour or so there had been a steady stream of Trebles walking up to the punch bowls, deviously dumping the contents of their flasks. By now the punch just tastes like straight vodka with a bit of food colouring.

"I can't believe they got the school to let them paint the walls." Arden says. "It does remind me of Christmas."

"How? It doesn't snow in Vegas." I ask.

"It doesn't happen often in the valley but at Mt. Charleston they get enough that people can go sledding. It did snow that in the valley that one year though." Ollie says. He turns to look at Arden. "Remember we were like four, and it snowed like a foot during Christmas that year."

"Oh my god, I remember that year. We were still living in that apartment and we built snowmen on the balcony!" Arden says after a moment.

"Our families lived together for a couple of years when we were young in an apartment downtown." Ollie explained. "We were high enough up that at night we had an amazing view of all the lights from the Strip."

"I didn't know you guys lived together." Jesse says looking between them.

"Yeah, till we were like…" Arden pauses to look at Ollie, "five years old."

"Do you remember our last Christmas there? You and your family got me that ukulele." Ollie asks Arden.

"Yes! I remember going with mom to pick it out for you. For some reason mom wouldn't let me get you a pink one though." Arden says, smiling at the memory. "You were so excited when you opened it."

"Of course I was. It was my first instrument. Honestly I wouldn't have cared if it was pink, I love that thing. I still have it in my room back home." Ollie says.

"Really?" Arden asks.

"Of course, it's my favourite Christmas memory." Ollie says, smiling. He turns to me and Jesse now. "What about you Swanson? What's your favourite Christmas memory?"

"Hmm… I don't really have any one memory but my favourite part of Christmas is that my family and my aunt's family go to my grandparents' house basically every day of the holidays. On Christmas Eve we all go over and decorate the tree at my grandparents' house and then stay the night there. And then in the morning we all open presents together. Although this year should be pretty special because Beca is coming to spend the holidays with us." Jesse says. He looks down and me, beaming with happiness.

About a month ago Jesse had asked me what I was doing for the holidays this year and I had revealed to him that I didn't really have anything planned. My father and Sheila had made plans to go off on some cruise this year. My mother lived down in Florida and she hated the holiday, mostly because when it was right before Christmas 10 years ago that my father left us. After that, she stopped celebrating the holiday.

But when I told Jesse this, he had promptly invited me to spend the holiday with him. It took me a couple of days to finally decide that I was okay with not only meeting his family, but spending the holiday with them.

Jesse had been so happy when I told him that I wanted to go. Honestly he reminded me of a super excited puppy. He was totally adorable.

It was in that moment that I realized that I loved him. Jesse had started rambling about all of his family traditions and how he was so excited to share them with me, and I just thought to myself: _I love him._

Now, considering all the sappy movies Jesse and I have watched over the past year, where the leading lady tells the leading man that she loves him, you'd think I would have been able to come up with an equally sappy way of telling Jesse that I love him. Turns out no, a small part of me was still the girl from a year ago who ran from complicated feelings. But another, larger, part of me had changed into someone who wanted this relationships and the emotions that come with it. It was that part that convinced me not to run from this revelation.

What I ended up doing was blurting out, in the middle of Jesse's ramblings, "I love you". I had then stood rooted to the spot as Jesse turned and looked at me. Despite the fact that Jesse's feelings had been obvious from the beginning, I was still scared shitless. He searched my eyes for about a second before pulling me in for a very intense kiss. After a couple of minutes, when air became a necessity, we pulled apart. Jesse then proceeded to tell me that he loved me too, and that he had waited for me to say it first.

It takes Jesse squeezing my hand to bring me back to the present.

"So Beca, what's your favourite Christmas memory?" Ollie asks.

"Uh… I don't really know. I guess it would be from back when I was a kid. I was like eight and I got this stuffed dog from Santa. I carried it with me everywhere for a couple of years…" I trail off. The truth is that after my father left us was when we moved down to Florida and my stuffed dog got lost somewhere in the move. I remember being so upset about losing it but I never told my mother that it was lost. She had her own problems at the time.

Jesse seems to notice my discomfort because he immediately changes the subject.

"What's your favourite memory Arden?" Jesse asks. He squeezes my hand again and I give him a small smile, telling him that I'll be fine and I'll tell him later.

"The memory that stands out the most was the year we tried to stay up and catch Santa. Do you remember that year Ollie? You and Oliver stayed over at our house for the entire holiday." Arden asks.

"I remember going back to your house after school and tearing apart your living room to build a fort. Your mom was so not happy with us." Ollie says laughing.

"I think Dad was more annoyed. Remember he, Clark and your dad had to sit on the floor to watch football because we stole all the cushions." Arden says.

"Well we had to build our fort in the perfect place. We had to be able to watch the fireplace, the Christmas tree and the TV so we could watch _Rudolph_." Ollie says.

"So did you catch Santa?" Jesse asks.

"Sadly, no. Arden, Charlie, Clark and I all fell asleep that year. We made it very difficult for our parents that year though." Ollie says.

We all fall in to comfortable silence as we watch people dancing.

"So are Lily and Donald a couple now?" I ask as I watch them dance together to The Saturdays' _What About Us_.

"If they weren't before, I think Donald is going to try to change that tonight. Did Jesse tell you that he spent the last week running around asking all of us if we had a handkerchief in that exact shade of green?" Ollie asks. I narrow my eyes slightly and discover that the handkerchief on Donald's jacket is the exact shade of dark green as Lily's dress.

"I hope they get together, they look great together. And she did admit to Stacie last week that she thinks Donald is cute." Arden says. I glance between her and Ollie and share a look with Jesse.

Lily and Donald aren't the only potential acca-couple here tonight.

* * *

It takes till 4 in the morning for the Formal to finally break off enough that I can officially close down the dance floor and the music. The dozen or so people who are still dancing boo me when I turn off the music but I could hardly care less. All I care about now is going back to Jesse's dorm, changing into one of his shirts and cuddling up to watch _It's a Wonderful Life_. Benji had earlier announced his intentions to spend the night at the Treble House so we were going to have the dorm to ourselves.

It isn't until we are alone in his dorm, that Jesse asks me about my ''favourite'' Christmas memory.

"So what happened back there? You kind of disappeared on us when we were talking about Christmas memories." Jesse asks as he hands he my favourite shirt of his.

"The memory I told you guys about doesn't really have a happy ending. That was two years before my father left us and after we moved I lost the stuffed dog." I say.

"I'm so sorry Becs." Jesse says.

"It's okay. I don't really have any happy Christmas memories I guess. I mean I remember Christmases from before my father left and I remember thinking at the time that we were all happy. But when I look back at them now…" I pause for a moment and Jesse turns to watch me intently. He never pushes during these moments; he just lets me say what I need to say. "All those memories just feel false because I know now that they weren't happy. I remember all these moments from when I was a kid and I just keep questioning myself. How did I not notice how unhappy they were? How did I read all those signs wrong?"

"I guess that's why I was so scared when I told you I loved you. I guess I couldn't stop myself from thinking that if I read things wrong with them, maybe I was reading things wrong with you. And I know that foolish, I've known exactly how you've felt about me from the beginning, but…" I trail off and look away from Jesse. I hate myself for feeling weak like this. But I can't help feeling a bit ashamed for doubting his feelings.

Jesse immediately closes the distance between us and wraps me in his arms. We stand like that for a moment, with him holding me tightly. Then he pulls back and I lift my head so I can see his face.

"I love you, Beca Mitchell. Ever since you sang to me at Finals last year, I've known I loved you. Every day we are together you continue to show me new parts of yourself and every day I fall more and more in love with you." He pulls away from me and walks over to his desk to retrieve something from the top drawer.

"I was going to wait until Christmas Eve to give you this but…" He hands me an average sized jewellery case. "Open it."

I slowly undo the clasp on the case and sitting inside is the most beautiful silver bracelet. Hanging from the thin silver chain is a one of those Open Hearts pendants.

"Jesse." I say softly. I love it; it's beautiful but not too flashy. It's perfect.

"They usually only put them on necklaces but I knowhow much you love your usual one so I got them to put it on a bracelet. May I?" He asks. I smile and hold out my wrist for him. He takes the bracelet out of the case and delicately does it up around my wrist. He then leans down and presses his lips against my wrist and the looks me straight in the eye.

"I love you Beca Mitchell. Never doubt that."

_I have the perfect boyfriend _I think to myself once Jesse and I finally curl up in his bed.


	6. Miss International Love

Arden's POV

It's the day of Regionals and I've never been this nervous before. I've been to several of Charlie's performances but this is the first time that I'm the one who is going on stage. Usually I'm the one who gives Charlie a pep talk before she goes back stage. But now I'm standing just offstage, listening to Beca and Amy give us a pep talk before we go on. Though I can't say I'm really hearing anything Beca and Amy are saying. My stomach feels bottomless, and my ears are filled with this low buzz.

"Hands in acca-nerds!" Beca says loudly. I glance around at the circle of girls. Each one of them has a huge smile on their face. Well almost all of them. When Katie and I look at each other I can see my nervousness reflected in her face. I give her what I hope is a comforting smile right before Beca starts counting.

"One, two…"

"Ah!" We all sing. Beca looks at me and arches an eyebrow as we walk on stage, silently asking if I'm okay. I nod and get into place on stage. Behind me I hear Beca softly count to four and blow the pitch-pipe. I squint past the bright stage lights and my heart lifts.

Sitting in the middle of the auditorium is Charlie and Clark. I can't help the huge smile that spreads across my face.

"La, la, la, la, la. La, la, la, la, la. La, la, la, la, la. La, la, la, la, la." Beca, Katie, Ashley and I sing the start to our mash-up of Cobra Starship's _You Make Me Feel_ and Jennifer Lopez's _Dance Again_.

I smile as Cynthia Rose starts to sing the main chorus.

_This is easy_. I think to myself as I smile at the crowd.

* * *

Beca's POV

The crowd is deafening as we leave the stage. All of the girls are smiling, even Arden and Katie, who had looked nervous before we went on.

"You guys were awesome." Jesse says. He and the rest of the Trebles had stood just off stage while we had performed.

"Thank you." I don't think anything could wipe the smile off my face. I give Jesse a hug as he and the rest of the Trebles are called on stage.

"Good luck." I call after him. He turns and gives me two thumbs up.

_What a nerd._ I think as I go to stand with the rest of the girls. The Trebles get into place and the crowd goes quiet.

"You can't catch me, boy. I'm overseas and with about a hundred G's per show. Don't test me boy." Donald raps the beginning of Pitbull's _International Love_.

"Don't test me boy." The rest of the Trebles sing.

"Cause I rap with the best for sure. 305 till the death of me. Cremate my body and let the ocean have what's left of me. But for now, forget about that. Blow the whistle, baby you're the referee." Donald finishes the rap and goes to join the rest of the choreography.

"You put it down like New York City!" Jesse sings.

"I never sleep." The Trebles back him up.

"Wild like Los Angeles!"

"My fantasy."

"Hotter then Miami!"

"I feel the heat!"

"Oh, Miss International Love. Oh, Miss International Love!"

"I don't play football but I've touched down everywhere" Ollie sings.

"Everywhere?" Jesse comes up beside him and sings.

"Everywhere!" Ollie continues singing. "I don't play baseball but I've hit a home run everywhere, everywhere. I've been to countries and cities I can't pronounce. And the places on the globe I ain't know existed. In Romania she pulled me to the side and told me."

"Pit, you can have me and my sister." Ollie stands beside Donald as he sings this point. "In Lebanon, yeah the women the bomb. And in Greece, you've guessed it the women, they sweet. Been all around the world but I ain't gon' lie there's nothing like Miami's heat!"

"You put it down like New York City!"

"I never sleep."

"Wild like Los Angeles!"

"My fantasy."

"Hotter then Miami!"

"I feel the heat!"

"Oh, Miss International Love. Oh, Miss International Love!" Jesse and the Trebles sing as the crowd cheers loudly.

"There's not a place. That your love don't affect me baby." Benji comes forward as he sings his solo. "So don't ever change. I cross the globe when I'm with you baby. Hey!"

"You put it down like New York City! I never sleep. Wild like Los Angeles! My fantasy. Hotter then Miami! I feel the heat! Oh, Miss International Love. Oh, Miss International Love!" The Bellas and I cheer along with the crowd as the Trebles finish their song. I smile as I see Jesse and the rest of the Trebles celebrate before joining us off stage. Jesse spots me and jogs over.

"You were amazing." I say once he reaches me. He leans down and presses his lips against mine. I smile against his kiss, allowing myself to get caught up in the moment. Adrenaline is still burning through me from our performance and Jesse is stroking the fire with his intense kisses. It takes Donald yelling at us to get a room and Amy reminding us that we still have a trophy to collect to get us to separate.

"You guys can have to dorm tonight." Arden says. I turn to give her a look but she has already moved on. I roll my eyes and look at Jesse. He just smiles and pulls me back on stage where all the groups are congregating for the judge's decisions.

"In second place, and going to this years semi-finals… The Barden Bellas!" The announcer says. I honestly don't care that we got second. We had made the decision early on to not do any complicated mash-ups until the finals. We wanted to be able to blow the judges away again, just like we did last year. By doing simple mash-ups in the early stages we were guaranteeing that they would not be expecting the more complicated mash-up we had planned for the Final.

"In first place… The Barden University Treblemakers!" Jesse and the rest of the Trebles run forward to accept their large trophy while the Bellas and I cheer along with everybody else. After a short moment we are all ushered back stage.

"Thank god they didn't let the Tonehangers back here this year." Ashley says as we walk into the semi-empty room.

"Arden!" I hear a woman yell from across the room. I look past Donald and Lilly to see two people walking through the doorway. There is no mistaking them. I turn to find Arden as Charlie and Clark make their way over to us. Arden has the biggest smile on her face as she all but runs over to her brother and sister. Amy catches my eye and smiles.

"So that's Arden's brother and sister?" Jesse asks from beside me.

"Yeah, that's Clark and Charlie." Ollie says as he joins Jesse and me.

"Aren't you going to go say hi?" I ask Ollie.

"I'll wait. It looks like it's a private moment." Ollie says. We watch the mini-family reunion going on. Arden is talking quickly to her siblings, hands moving excitedly. She seems to notice us watching because she turns and waves all three of us over.

"So you must be Beca, Arden has told us all about you." Charlie says once we reach them. The resemblance between the three Dovers is remarkable. All three of them have the same dark brown color of hair. Charlie, who must be with inches of Arden, has the same smile as her sister on her face. Clark has the same almond brown eyes as Arden, though his are slightly hidden by his messy hair.

"I am. And this is my boyfriend Jesse." I say.

"I'm Clark, and the one who sometimes forgets her manners is Charlie." Clark says as he extends his hand to Jesse.

"Ollie." Clark says as he nods in acknowledgment in Ollie's direction. I frown slightly at Arden, but she doesn't seem to notice. Why do I get the feeling that Clark doesn't exactly like Ollie?

"It's nice to finally meet you." Jesse says.

"You guys were amazing up there." Clark says.

"Thank you." I say.

"Seriously, you guys were incredible. I mean your stage presence was unbelievable. I've seen all of those shows that the hotels on The Strip put on, and the one thing they all have in common is that they engage the audience. When you guys started performing, I could just feel the audience loving it. And the energy you had while performing…" Charlie continued gushing. She reminded me of Amy in a way, how she could just keep talking. Arden caught my eye and she rolled her eyes slightly, apologizing for Charlie's over done compliments. I just shook my head and smiled, wordlessly telling her to enjoy it.

"Oi! Beca!" Amy calls from across the room interrupting Charlie's rambling.

"I'll be right back." I say as I turn to walk over to Amy.

"What's up?" I ask Amy.

"These guys were looking for you." Amy says. I glance behind her and see Denver Klein.

"Beca, hi. There's someone I want you to meet. You guys were terrific by the way." Denver says excitedly. I look at Amy and arch my eyebrows. Ever since Arden warned me of Lennon Buchan I've ignored all of Denver's emails. Either Denver is unaware that I've ignored him or he just doesn't care. Denver turns around and I notice that another man was standing just behind Denver.

It only takes a moment for me realize who the man is. Lennon Buchan, CEO of Buchan records.

"Beca Mitchell," Lennon's voice is soft as he looks at me intently. "I've been waiting to meet you for while now but you haven't responding to our emails."

"What are you doing here Lennon?" Clark snarls out from behind me. I turn and see that Clark, Jesse, Ollie and the rest of the Dovers have come over. Arden's face is pale while Clark's is completely tense.

"I'm here to meet up with a talented young artist that I'm hoping to sign Clark." Lennon says with a small smile on his face.

"You have no right to be back here. This is for performers and family only." Ollie says. Lennon's head snaps in his direction.

"Well, well, well, the prodigal son returns. I'm glad to see you back in America Oliver Junior." Lennon says. Ollie glares at him, a muscle in his jaw jumping. I glance between Clark and Ollie, both of whom are glaring at Lennon.

"Okay, guys. Let's try to not have someone go to jail this year." Jesse says as he moves to stand between the glaring alpha males.

"Yes, there is no need for… undue publicity." Lennon says. He turns to me and hands me his card. "I'll be in touch Beca."

And with one last nod in our direction, he and Denver walk down the hallway. No one says anything for a couple of minutes. Arden's face is slowly gaining colour, while Clark's is slowly losing tension.

"Let's get out of here. Come on, let's get back to campus." Ollie says. Clark narrows his eyes at Ollie before turning to me.

"We were gonna take Arden out for something to eat. We'll have her back at campus in a couple of hours, I promise." Clark says to me. I nod, focusing on Arden. She still hasn't said a word.

"Yeah, Arden we passed this cool looking Italian place on the way here. I googled it and their pasta sounds delicious…" Charlie starts rambling again as she wraps an arm around Arden. This seems to make Arden snap too. She quickly changes her facial expression from blank to polite curiosity.

"What about their bread sticks?" Arden asks. Charlie beams at her and starts describing the rest of the menu. Arden just smiles and shakes her head at her sister.

"I'll see you in a couple of hours." She says to me as Charlie steers her to the exit.

"What the hell just happened here?" Amy's words echo my thoughts as I watch Arden and her siblings walk down the hallway.


	7. We're All Brilliant Decievers

Beca's POV

The last three weeks have been the weirdest of the entire semester. Actually the last three weeks might have been weirder than anything from last year.

Arden has acting just… weird. From the moment she got back from spending time with her brother and sister she has been acting like nothing is wrong. She is just pretending that Lennon never showed up at Regionals and that the tension between her family and Lennon wasn't obvious to everyone in the room.

Amy and I have tried to talk to her about it but whenever we bring up the subject Arden goes mysteriously deaf. Once we change the subject though, she suddenly goes right back to normal. Ollie has been no help either. Jesse has tried talking to him but he refuses to say anything. At least Ollie acknowledges that something happened though, which is more than Arden does.

I've been trying to concentrate on the Bellas and our set for Semis but it's hard to focus. I know that Arden is keeping secrets but she refuses to say anything. It's come to the point where I've been spending every night at Jesse and Benji's dorm because is so frustrating being around Arden when she refuses to be honest with me. Especially about something that is so obvious.

"You could try locking her in the room and refusing to let her out till she tells you." Benji offers. It's Friday night, the eve of Semis and I'm hanging out in Jesse's dorm. Practice had been a productive one. We had figured out the set a couple weeks ago so we had spent practice running through things one last time. Amy and I had decided to corner Arden after practice and try again to get her to talk to us but she had silently slipped out before either of us had noticed.

"I think that's entrapment Benji. Pretty sure it's illegal." Jesse comments.

"She's too smart anyways. She always has some sort of escape route planned out. I swear she probably has a bed sheet ladder hidden in our dorm so she can climb out the window." I mutter. Benji is lying on his bed playing with his handkerchiefs and fake thumb for a magic trick. Jesse is sitting at his desk getting a movie ready on his laptop for all three of us to watch tonight. I'm sitting on Jesse's bed crossed legged and glaring at the opposite wall.

"What about a Bella intervention?" Benji suggests.

"Amy and I were going to try something like that today after practice but she pulled a Houdini on us. She just disappeared from the theatre." I huff. Jesse stands up from his desk and turns to face me and Benji.

"I've narrowed it down to two options. You guys have to choose from _Planes, Train and Automobiles_ or _Jaws_. I know I offered _Jaws_ last year but we never did watch it." Jesse says holding up the movie cases.

"Jaws." Benji and I say at the same time. I guess we are both in the mood for a bloodthirsty shark killing people on a beach.

"You know if it weren't for my love of the soundtrack I would protest your outright rejection of Steve Martin and John Candy." Jesse says to us as he puts the DVD in his laptop. Benji and I just laugh.

As I cuddle up with Jesse in the darkened room to watch _Jaws_ I make a promise to myself. I am going to find out what happened with Arden's family and Lennon. Whether she tells me or not.

* * *

_I can't stand Luke_. I think to myself as I stomp over to the station. It's hours before The Bellas and I need to be on the road, but instead doing something productive, like spending the time with either the Bellas or Jesse, I'm on my way to spend the next three hours baby-sitting Kyle The Intern at the station.

Jesse and I had told Luke three weeks ago that neither of us would be able to come in today but of course, today was the day Luke had to come down with some sort of man cold that would prevent him from getting to the station on time.

I don't understand why I have to be there anyways. It's not like Kyle is going to burn the place down, the kid is perfectly harmless. Luke just has a problem with freshmen. Well, male freshmen I guess. He did let me play my music last year without supervision.

"Hey Beca!" I skid to a halt when I hear Denver Klein call my name. I swing around to see him jogging over to me. Behind him a limo is parked in the parking lot.

Three guesses who's sitting in that limo.

"What do you want Denver?" I ask with an edge in my voice once he gets closer. He stops a couple feet away from me and raises his hands in defence.

"I just want to talk. You haven't been answering our emails or calls." Denver says slowly, eyeing my warily.

"Yeah, most people would take the hint Denver. I'm not interested." I say with narrowed eyes.

"Why? Is it because of Arden Dover?" Denver asks. He takes a cautious step towards me, his hands still raised.

"Arden warned me to stay away from you guys. I'm not going to just disregard something one of my best friends says to me." I say.

"Of course she would warn you Beca. She hates Lennon and so does her family. Oliver and his son hate him too." Denver says as he shakes his head slightly, as if he's disappointed in me. I narrow my eyes further. I am so sick of secrets.

"And why exactly do she, Ollie and their families hate Lennon?" I ask.

"So she didn't tell you?" I don't answer Denver's question. I don't need to. My silence is an answer in itself.

"Of course she wouldn't. That girl wouldn't know honesty if it danced in front of her singing one of your mixes." Denver says. My suspicious look turns to anger. Arden may be keeping secrets but she's still one of my best friends. Denver notices my anger. "It's true! I bet you've tried asking her, Ollie too, about what happened back then and she either avoided the question or fed you some lie. Tell me I'm wrong."

Denver's words are ringing in my head. It's true. Both Arden and Ollie have been avoiding not only me but anyone who asks her about what happened at Regionals.

"Exactly." Denver again takes my words for confirmation that he's right. Denver turns and walks back to the limo.

"Wait, where are you going?" I call after Denver's retreating form.

"You want the truth?" Denver asks loudly once he reaches the limo. He opens the door and looks at me.

"Get in."

* * *

"Beca, I'm so glad you decided to hear me out." Lennon says after the limo starts driving away. It had taken me all of thirty seconds to decide to run quickly to the station and yell to Kyle that he was on his own. Besides, Luke will be at the station in a couple hours. It's not like Kyle can do any permanent damage in that short of time period.

"Where are we going?" I ask as I send Jesse and Amy a quick text telling them that I'll see them at the theatre. I may be sick of all these secrets but I do have to make it to Semis in three hours.

"My driver is just going to drive around while we talk. A limo sitting in a university parking lot is going to attract attention and I can only imagine that you would rather avoid interruptions. I know you have your Semi Final performance tonight so I'll try and make this quick." Lennon says from the other side of the limo where he and Denver are sitting.

"I want to know the truth. Why does he say Arden and her family hate you?" I ask sharply nodding at Denver.

"First I must ask you a question. How much did Arden tell you?" Lennon asks.

"All she told me was that her father and Ollie's father have had business with you in the past. She told me that you are a vicious businessman, and that you can be dangerous when you lose." I say. Denver closes his eyes in exasperation for a moment while Lennon continues to watch me.

"I see. So she neglected to tell you about the history I have with her family." Lennon says.

"What history?" I ask, narrowing my eyes suspiciously.

"Arden's mother, Amanda, and I were engaged for a time. Only shortly after I proposed to her, she and Ben Dover, Arden's father, started an affair. A couple months later I came home and found a pregnancy test. A positive pregnancy test." Lennon says softly. "Naturally I asked went to ask Amanda about it and when I found her she was on the phone with Dover, telling him exactly what I needed to know."

"I'd had my suspicions about Amanda's faithfulness, but it wasn't until I found her on the phone with Dover that I believed it. I'll admit that when I discovered that she was pregnant with Dover's child I was furious, but rightfully so. When I confronted Amanda about the affair, she was still on the phone with Dover. He and his sidekick Oliver Clothesoff came rushing over and an argument erupted. Unfortunately it was a rather loud argument, one in which the neighbours heard. The authorities were called, which led to the press finding out about Amanda and Dover's affair." Lennon paused in his story giving me time to absorb his words.

I didn't say anything. I just sat there, mutely staring out the darkened window. There was a slightly hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach as I thought back to the night after our first Bella practice. I remember thinking that if there was something more to Arden's story about Lennon that she would tell me. I remember pushing away my doubts, telling myself to forget them.

"Amanda and Dover blame me for the publicity that followed." Lennon's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "Despite Amanda marrying Dover, everyone knew Arden was conceived while she was still engaged to me. Since then Dover had tried to make my life as difficult as possible."

"Arden did not lie to you per say. Arden simply failed to give you the proper background information. I have had dealings with Dover and Oliver in the past. Dover and his company have been trying to set up road blocks for my record label. And Oliver has done his part to try and prevent me from signing acts to my label." Lennon continued as he fixed his gaze on me. "You wanted the truth Beca, and now you have it. All of it."

* * *

Arden's POV

"Where is she?"

"What are we going to do?"

"WHERE IS SHE!?"

I'm standing backstage with the rest of the Bellas and we are officially panicking. At first we thought Beca had just caught a ride to Semis with Jesse, but he and the rest of the Trebles had arrived half and hour ago, sans Beca.

"I just spoke to Luke. Apparently Beca didn't stick around at the station this afternoon. I guess she was there for a second to tell Kyle not to burn the place down and then she took off. Kyle didn't see where she went." Jesse says. His face is completely pale, his expression showing just how scared he is. I don't have to look around to know that Jesse's expression is reflected in all of our faces.

"Sounds to me like Beca had some business or something to take care of." Donald says.

"Jesse, she sent both you and Amy a text that she would meet us here. I'm sure she'll be here eventually. Beca isn't the kind of person to just not show." Benji says. He has been trying for the last half and hour to calm Jesse down, with little effect.

"Try her Dad. Maybe she got a ride here with him?" I ask.

"That's a no go. The professor and the real house wife are already sitting down." Stacie says from over by the curtains. I quickly run over to where Stacie is standing and look myself. Just as Stacie said, Dr. Mitchell and his wife were seated in the middle of the theatre.

I give the room another desperate look.

_Where are you Beca?_


End file.
